Reflected In You
by Doomkitty25
Summary: Crime Solving AU: Magnus Bane's club is losing money faster than he can keep up with it, and he needs help figuring out what's going on so he turns to Alec, his best friend's brother, for help. Together, as they try to figure out just what's going on, they uncover something far more sinister than embezzlement and maybe fall a little bit in love along the way.
1. Chapter 1

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Alec silenced the alarm on his phone and sat up swinging his legs over the side of his bed, and then he just sat there. Lethargic, even after more than enough sleep, and he wanted nothing more than to crawl back under his comforter and deny that the day had started. Jace was downstairs with Clary, and they'd all have breakfast together...and Alec just didn't want to anymore. He didn't want any of it.

"Alec! Pancakes." Came Jace's voice through his door, almost like clockwork. Alec didn't move from his seated position, listening to the sounds of New York drifting through the windows of his high rise apartment. It was a dreary winter day, and it perfectly matched the chill in Alec's soul. Winter could be beautiful, and it was actually Alec's favorite season, but something about the wet cold grey of today was already dragging him under a cloud of pure hopelessness. He watched the ice form on his bedroom window, and faced the unavoidable reality of the day starting whether he wanted it to or not. Getting up, having breakfast with the happy couple below, going to work, coming home, working out, watching a show, and doing the same god awful thing all over again the next day.

He had to reconcile himself to the facts. The ugly truth of it all.

He was thirty, he had never had a relationship, never had a torrid love affair that turned him into a dramatic mess. He wasn't a virgin, he'd gone out when he was in college and slept with a few people, primarily so Jace would leave him alone, but none of it was anything close to an actual relationship. Now he lived with Jace and Clary, who had been together since college. The last even almost date he'd been on turned into a hookup in a club bathroom, and he'd lost the guys number as soon as he unlocked his phone after leaving the club. The guy had been handsy, and gross if Alec was honest, but he'd thought the excitement would shake him out of his funk. It hadn't. He'd just felt worse and vowed not to do it again. Uninstalling Grindr had clearly been a mistake, hookups were about all he was good for, even if they did make him feel like shit. They made him feel less shitty than an actual date going so terribly, so he'd sworn it all off. And now...well now here he was, a man in his thirties with nothing to show for it but an endless string of useless one night stands. Heaving a sigh he glared at out his window, jesus how shitty was his life to be procrastinating breakfast with his brother in hopes of avoiding the cold hard truth.

He was single. Boring. And hopeless.

Boring. He hated thinking it, but if there was one word in all of the english language that fit him perfectly, it was that one. His hair was boring, his clothes were boring, his job was boring, his whole damn life was boring. He could get a date. He just couldn't keep them interested. If he didn't have to talk, everything worked out great. The minute he opened his mouth, their eyes closed and he lost them.

Alec looked over at his dresser, trying to find the motivation to get dressed, but he was just too depressed to get up and face the day. Clary would be bright and cheerful, a high contrast to the day outside the window, and he just didn't know if he had the energy to handle it. He had to be at work at 8, so he knew he needed to get up, not just yet though.

Last night, he'd gone to bed early, avoiding Jace and Clary's request to watch the Good Place with them. He'd gone into his room, pulled out his clothes for the next day, and passed out as soon as his head hit the pillow. He wore the same thing to work everyday. Black slacks, white shirt, black tie, and black blazer, no one would ever be able to pick him out of a crowd of business men. He really didn't even need to set his clothes out, his closet was the same exact thing over and over again.

Almost without realizing it, he felt humiliated by his own lack of anything resembling a style. Somewhere between college and now, he'd managed to purge his life of all color. The word fun didn't resemble anything about him, and flat out couldn't be applied to Alec at all. He was boring. He couldn't even put on a bright colored shirt to ward off this mood, because he didn't own anything that wasn't grey, black or white. Hell most days he barely bothered to fix his hair, much less pick out clothing that might put him in a better mood. Alec stood up and walked over to his dresser mirror.

He didn't like what he saw. He looked like an off brand version of Isabelle, dull and lifeless. A too big Grey tshirt, navy cotton boxers that had been washed so often they may as well be grey. He'd had the damn things since he left for college. In fact he'd had nearly the exact same wardrobe for the past 10 years, if he needed something new or to replace something he just bought the same copy of something he already had. Nothing in his collection could ever be seen as sexy, no silk, nothing for the boring lump that was Alexander fucking Lightwood he thought suddenly furious with himself.

Slamming his hands down on the dresser he glared at himself in the mirror and felt something inside of himself shift. He wanted a life, a family of his own, he wanted a partner a house, and damnit to hell he wanted sex. Filthy, tender, wicked, on the couch in the middle of the afternoon married sex. He wanted the abs he worked so hard to maintain to make someone's eyes glaze over with lust born out of love instead of a sick arrogance or pride. He didn't want to feel like a fucking throw away object, he wanted someone to want him for who he was.

Alec sighed. He wasn't going to get any of that though. Blue collar FBI agents were not the things dreams were made of. He was going to get older, more boring, and eventually his abs would be a fond memory. Unless he did something...drastic.

Desperation, he knew led him to do stupid shit, like agree to anything Isabelle or Jace schemed up. But, maybe this once he could just stop being so damn good. He'd been the rule follower, the responsible one, the good brother his whole life. Maybe it was time to throw that out the window and do something, well crazy. Could he? Was he even capable?

But straight laced, stodgy men didn't get the guy at the end of the story, and if he was going to get what he wanted, something had to give. He definitely didn't want a man that spent more time in clubs picking up men than he did at home, but he did want someone who was experienced. Someone confident. Someone who knew what he was doing, something about that kind of confidence always attracted him, and just imagining having a man like that all to himself made him grin a little. But, he was going to have to go out so he could actually meet people.

"Alec!" Clary shouted at him this time, startling him out of his thoughts.

"In a minute." He shouted back in acknowledgement.

How exactly was he going to do this. Tinder was out, it was worse than Grindr actually, in fact he reached over and uninstalled the app from his phone immediately. Hookups were out. This was now a mission, a serious business mission, and he wasn't going to get distracted by the cesspool that was Tinder.

Who did he know that had the most experience? He couldn't ask Isabelle for help, she'd go over board and he'd be dressed in shit he'd never even possible contemplate wearing again, and she'd give him shit advice about picking up dates. Jace was also out, he and Clary had been wrapped around one another for too long to even contemplate what dating might be like. But, maybe Jace knew someone?

Alec went through the motions and got dressed for work, and as he knotted his tie he looked at himself once again in the mirror. "You're pathetic," he told his reflection and couldn't control the anger in his voice. This couldn't go on.

**8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8**

Pancakes were piled in the middle of the table and Jace sat with his arms over his chest giving Alec an arched look. Clary was nowhere to be seen and Alec sighed internally. How fitting that his brother knew the exact tone of his voice that meant he needed to send Clary onto work without him. They both worked for the NYPD, though they weren't partners, but they generally went into work together.

"Brother, what's going on?" Jace asked concerned.

Alec sat at the table and tried to hedge. "What makes you think something is wrong?"

Jace's face scrunched. "You have got to be kidding me dude. You skipped the Good Place, you are avoiding the hell out of me and Clary, and just in general you act like I killed a pet you've never had. What the hell?"

Alec sat back in his chair. "I think I had an epiphany?"

Jace grunted clearly asking what.

Alec took a deep breath. "I want a family, I want someone in my life, I don't want to be alone anymore."

Jace blinked. Then blinked again. "Okay, so what's wrong?"

"Jesus Jace, what do you think the problem is. No one is going to want to be with me. Jesus I'm like the embodiment of the color fucking dull."

"For fucks sake dude that's not true. You're like hot for a dude." Jace said it in his endlessly supportive way.

Alec rolled his eyes. "That's not what I want Jace, I want something real, and to get it I'm going to have to change some things. I can make men look at me, that's not really hard, but I have to figure out how to keep them once they get passed the outside. And I want to find one I want to keep once I get passed his outside. I think I need to move out on my own, be more independent, I think I need to do things that scare me and I need to be different."

Jace's eyes went wide and he slumped. "I don't want you to go, and I think you're fine like you are, but I get it man. Whatever you need, I'll help."

"Thanks." Alec shoved a bite of pancake into his mouth, and then remembered imagining Isabelle's reaction. "Don't tell anyone?" he commanded his brother.

Jace nodded, then put on his thinky face. "So what we need to do is get you how to pick up a man lessons, well the right kind of man anyway."

Alec choked on his orange juice. "Seriously?"

"Yeah man. What about Lydia. She's cool, and she's like a matchmaker. Like one of those professional ones you know, so I bet she'd totally help you and it'd be totally anonymous or whatever."

Alec's eyes went wide. He'd completely forgotten about Lydia's job. "Holy shit you're right. She can probably give me some really good tips."

**8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8**

Alec came to a dead stop on his way to his office as he caught sight of the man standing outside of his door. Magnus Bane. What the hell was he doing in the FBI building? For that matter, who the hell had let him in? And what idiot had directed him to Alec's office? Standing there a little dumbfounded he wondered what he should do. He couldn't just stand and stare, although Magnus did stand out.

Cubicles, grey walls, a sea of workers in various shades of white, black, grey and navy. But not Magnus. He was in a pair of black skinny jeans that sparkled, black and silver pointed boots, and a shirt that looked like fire as it shifted under the fluorescent light. Magnus' hair was black with a shock of white and red running through it. He'd probably come from his club Pandemonium, but Alec couldn't fathom what the hell he'd be doing here.

He and Magnus butted heads, they always had, but he was Isabelle's best friend. They'd all met in college, and Alec tolerated the man, but Magnus was….well he was everything Alec wasn't. Exciting, smooth, and just the slightest bit dangerous. He dominated any space he was in, and he had the confidence to get in or out of just about any situation he found himself in. Their college years had shown him just about every side of Magnus he could see. They were all sharp edged and brilliant. Alec might have been the tiniest bit jealous. Through the years they'd developed a sort of mutual truce that Magnus pushed the boundaries of any chance he got. Never once, had he shown up at Alec's place of work though.

Magnus caught sight of him and his expression lifted.

Alec of course did what Alec always did and approached him asking, "Who let you in here?" Magnus' expression dimmed. Alec always had that effect on him, and he wanted to kick himself because he didn't necessarily mean to shut Magnus down every time he talked to him. Almost everyone in their friend group got along with Magnus, but for some reason he and Alec had just never clicked. Not like that. Magnus shrugged and walked into Alec's office ahead of him, sitting down in one of the chairs available before Alec could offer.

"I need your help."

Alec appreciated Magnus' direct approach. It had always struck him a little strangely that Magnus might simper and prevaricate with others, but to Alec he gave nothing but the hard honest truth. "With what?" Alec said tersely as he dropped his briefcase on his desk, taking notice of a new file folder on his desk that hadn't been there when he left last night.

"Izzy was promoted as you know, and I wanted to throw a little party for her, but my place is out of commission right now. I was hoping I could use your place. Jace said I would need your permission, and since you refuse to answer when I call, I came by." Magnus waved his ringed finger around the office.

Alec winced. It's not that he refused to answer, it's that he never quite knew what to say when Magnus approached him. If he were being honest, and maybe that was one of the changes he needed to make with himself, Magnus made him nervous as hell. He'd always stood too close, and pushed every button Alec had.

Magnus leaned back in his chair, and clenched his hands into fists. Almost as if he were waiting for Alec to refuse so he could leave and start looking for another solution. Alec frowned.

"Okay fine. You know the security code, I'll make a copy of the key for you. When is the party exactly?" Alec said as he pulled off his suit jacket and threw it over his chair.

Magnus didn't say anything so Alec looked up, and was struck by the other man staring at him rather intently. He was looking at Alec's hands as he unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt and started to roll them up his forearms. Interesting. He cleared his throat.

Magnus made a humming sound, but continued his intense perusal of Alec's hands. "Saturday around 2. It shouldn't take me more than a few days to have everything set up. Thank you."

Alec just grunted. "I'll drop the key off tomorrow.."

Magnus waved his hands again. "I'll just come by here and pick it up, no trouble at all." He stood from the chair and looked around Alec's office. "I'll let you get back to work, thanks again Alec."

Frowning just slightly he watched Magnus leave the building, eyes drawn against his will to the utterly delicious way Magnus filled out a pair of tight skinny jeans. It was annoying that he found the man so damn attractive, but luckily he'd learned how to compartmentalize it in college. Shaking his head to push Magnus to the back of his mind, he looked down at his desk and picked up the new case folder. Opening it with anticipation, because despite it all Alec loved his job, he looked at the new suspect and let out a frustrated groan.

Pandemonium. Camille. Fuck, Magnus' partner. Well shit, his day was about to get interesting. No way could he take this case. He stood up to head over to his Director's office when the man himself strode through Alec's door.

"Alec, I see you've seen the case file."

"Yes sir, I can't take this case Director Garroway."

"I know your relation to Magnus as he's your sister's best friend, that's actually why I want you to take this case. I'm relatively certain Camille is blackmailing him Alec. I want you to find out one way or the other. The actual case work is being done by other officers, I want you to figure out what Bane's part in all of this is."

"Sir are you sure." Alec said uncertainty.

"Alec, I'm Clary's father. I've known Magnus as long as you have. I need him thoroughly looked at, and there's no one on this team or in this building I trust to be as thorough as you. Also, there's no one in this building he respects more than you. So if anyone can get him to cooperate it's you."

Alec gaped at him. "What? Magnus doesn't, I'm not..." he sputtered.

Luke raised his brow but Alec just continued to gape. Luke rolled his eyes. "For gods sake Alec, you're one of the best investigators we have, I will never understand your near total obliviousness."

Alec shook his head. "I don't understand."

"Yeah well I'm not explaining it today, I have actual work to do. Get going on the Pandemonium case. Keep me posted."

Alec sighed and slumped back down into his office chair. Well shit he thought, he might have to put off his trip to the match maker. With a stubborn frown at the folder in his hand he snapped it shut and thought, no way in hell, he'd made up his mind. He could do both. With that decision made he quickly typed up an email to Lydia asking for a consult, and then logged into the FBI database to start compiling data on Camille.


	2. Chapter 2

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Magnus walked along the sidewalk and put off hailing a cab back to his club smiling with fondness over Alec's complete befuddlement at his presence. Jace had been a dick when he called, but he said that Alec was feeling things, and he might blow up if they threw a party he wasn't aware of in their space.

Magnus, never one to miss an interaction with Alec, had eagerly jumped at the chance to visit his office. It was kind of pathetic how much he enjoyed Alec, when he knew Alec barely tolerated him. But he also knew, that despite Alec's prickly edges if he needed anything from him, anything at all, he could ask. Oh he might moan about it and claim that Izzy had to twist his arm, but at the end of the day he was a solid rock that Magnus could depend on. And he'd had an incredibly short supply of that in his life before he'd met the Lightwoods.

Over the years he'd done a lot for Magnus. Things he probably didn't even realize he'd done. And Magnus couldn't help but be grateful that they'd all come together like they had in college. He also pondered if he should go to Alec about Camille. He'd thought about it sitting in his office. Right there in the FBI, and who better to help him than his very own FBI agent. But, he'd held back. He didn't have proof. Hell he didn't even know how to find proof. He knew she was up to something, but he just couldn't figure out what the hell it was.

He didn't want Alec to think he was crazy, and he sure as hell didn't want to come across as some kind of hysterical idiot, so he held back. He respected Alec and his thorough appreciation of rules and duty, he didn't want to lose any more points in Alec's eyes by being the little boy who cried wolf. Alec's opinion mattered to him, more than he was comfortable acknowledging to be honest.

Magnus chewed on his lip and tried to think of what the hell he could do. He could hire a private investigator. He'd already asked Camille to sell him her half of the business, for far more than it was worth mind you, but he just couldn't deal with her anymore. She was becoming..., well she'd always been..., he sighed. The woman was the devil incarnate and he really needed to get her out of his life for good. How?…..was what he just couldn't wrap his mind around.

She had a particular skill, and Magnus had a really hard time pushing back against her. She'd fronted the capital for his dream, and a part of him was devastated that she was tearing that apart. He was also reluctant to admit defeat. The club was doing well, but despite the crowds of people paying to get in every night, he was still not turning a profit. Not like he had been in the beginning. He just couldn't figure out where the hell the money was going.

Shaking his head and wishing like hell he knew an accounting wizard, he himself knew some stuff, but he was no Camille. She'd been top of her class and could walk circles around people who thought they knew money. He honestly didn't want to think the worst, but she made it really hard.

Magnus sighed, brooding over it wasn't going to fix it. It was a far more pleasant a past time thinking about Alexander in his work suit. Magnus hadn't been able to stop himself from salivating over Alec's removal of his jacket, and the slow reveal of his forearms. The man was pure sex, and it was beyond ridiculous that he just moved through life so effortlessly completely unaware of the effect he had on others. Magnus had thought for years that he did it on purpose, had thought he was just a complete tease. It had taken Isabelle to actually open his eyes to Alec's complete unawareness of his own person.

Magnus had walked around completely baffled for days and utterly charmed. Alec thank god had never noticed Magnus' fascination. Then his defense mechanisms had kicked in, god forbid he become some sort of pining mess. He was beyond in danger of falling head over heels for the oblivious man, so college Magnus had thrown himself out into the world and he'd managed to come back with Camille. Magnus was both grateful and devastated by the turn of events. She'd crushed his heart under her 4 inch spiked heels, but he had the club. And for whatever it was worth, he still got to have Alec in his life, if only peripherally.

All in all, it could be worse.

**8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8**

Setting the appointment with Lydia had been kind of nerve racking, even though he knew Lydia. She was incredibly nice and about as honest as they came. Alec still couldn't shake the worry that this was all useless, and it didn't really matter what ideas Lydia had or didn't have he was going to die alone. There was just something so humiliating about admitting that he needed help finding a man, like millions of people all across the world could do it just fine by themselves, but here he was….hopeless.

And did he really want someone he had to catch by using whatever tricks Lydia was going to teach him?

He groaned. Hell yes he did. The "real" him was getting him absolutely nowhere. If Lydia had to add a layer of polish to help him get the life he wanted, then so freaking be it. He'd wear fucking glitter….okay….maybe that was a little much. Alec dialed his determination back just a bit. Men like Magnus could wear glitter, remembering the flecks on his cheeks from that morning. Alec liked the look of it, but he just couldn't see himself applying the stuff.

Alec pushed through his office and headed out lost in his thoughts. The appointment with Lydia wasn't until later that evening, and he had a key to make for Magnus, so he stopped by the local hardware store and got that sorted. After leaving the store he set up an uber to get him to Lydia's and tried to push down his nerves. Hello new life he thought.

Knocking on Lydia's door ignited the butterflies in his stomach. Thankfully she answered quickly and ushered him into the living room of her home.

"Alec I'm so glad you set this up. It seems like ages since I've seen you, I don't get to as many of Clary and Isabelle's parties as I used to."

Lydia had always had a way about her that just put him at ease, Alec almost couldn't believe he'd been nervous. She was a beautiful woman and at a glance she might seem soft, but she had a spine of steel and she had fit right into their group in college. She dressed impeccably, but she never put him on edge like some high class women could do. His mom he thought suddenly could use a few pointers from Lydia's personable approach to social situations.

"It's really good to see you as well." Alec stood at attention in her living room and let her turn to face him. "So let's get this going then."

She raised her brow at him but smiled softly. "Alec it's not a race. What we need to do is sit down and have a little talk." She gestured at one of the comfortable chairs bracketing her coffee table.

Alec sat and eyed her warily, talk, what did she want to talk about. Now that he thought about it he didn't really have any idea what the hell she did to actually find men and women for people. Holy hell, why did he suck at everything?

"So, the first thing we need to establish is what you're looking for. I need to know what kind of man I should find for you. So you're going to have to fill out some paperwork for me, just take it home and be as honest as you can. The quicker you get it back to me, the quicker we can get started. I'm going to warn you now, the questions are personal. Incredibly personal, but confidential." She pushed a manila folder at him and he put it in his briefcase without so much as a glance. He'd look at it later.

"Now for this meeting, I want to get a general sense of what put you on my doorstep." She smiled softly at him and Alec slumped in his chair. He told her the whole revelation and sordid morning mess that had led him here. She kept her gentle accepting smile on her face throughout it all.

"Well, lucky for you I'm pretty good at what I do. And, I might be able to help you with that other problem as well."

Alec frowned. "Other problem?"

"A place to live silly." She said excitedly.

"Really!" Alec sat up straighter and looked at her expectantly.

"One of my clients had a kid graduate from college and move out of his rental. It's pretty reasonably priced, and it's available now. I'll get you his number." Lydia had stood during her explanation and walked to a small desk in the corner. She came back to Alec with a business card and a serious expression. "I think this is a good move for you, but I caution you...it's not going to be easy. It never is. We're going to fail a lot before we find you exactly what you're looking for. So try to prepare yourself okay."

Alec stood and took the business card from her, and pushed the folder under his arm. "I'm okay with that, I'm ready for my life to be something more." Alec walked out of Lydia's house with a spring in his step and a good solid feeling about this new path he was on.

Lydia closed her door with a smile and walked back into her living room. It had been a long time since she'd seen Alec and she remembered their college years fondly. He was just the kind of oblivious she needed. Grabbing her phone from the table she unlocked it and scrolled through her list of contacts. Selecting her most recent call, a deep voice came through the phone with a barked "What" that made her wince. She breathed deeply, "I have a contender if you still need someone." The harsh baritone ordered her to send the details, and she hung up the phone with a sigh of relief and a bit of regret.

**8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8**

Alec fingers the key in his pocket and decides he may as well swing by Pandemonium on his way home and drop off the key, both saving Magnus the trip and him having to deal with Magnus in his space at work. Alec flashes his badge at the bouncer, but the guy knows him so he just waves him inside. Most of their parties are held at Pandemonium, and Izzy is sure to drag him to just about every one of them. He's familiar with the club, and had actually helped Magnus with some of the inside renovations before the place was opened. Izzy had twisted his arm, but he and Jace both had picked up hammers and hauled debris to the dumpster.

He took the steps to the upper floors two at a time and made his way down the hall to Magnus' office. He was about to open the door and walk inside when he heard the unmistakable sound of Camille's voice. He really did not like the woman, but he thankfully wasn't around her all that often. She and Magnus had been a thing for awhile, but to hear Izzy tell it, the woman had been pure poison and Magnus was better off when they'd broken up.

"Magnus do you honestly think you'll be able to run this place without me. You can barely keep things going when I'm out of town, you're basically useless. No one wants to work for you." Acid dripped from her words and Alec felt a simmering rage begin to build inside of him. Peeking through the cracked door, he saw Magnus with his head bowed and a drink hanging limply from his hand. More vitriol spilled out of her mouth, but Alec couldn't take his eyes off of Magnus. He seemed so closed off, so withered. Alec had seen Magnus in many different states in the 12 years they'd known one another, and the only time he'd seen Magnus this defeated was when his mom passed. Alec's investigator sense exploded. Magnus was in trouble.

He may not get along with Magnus, not like everyone else, but they were still kinda friends. And no one should be speaking to another human being like this viper of a woman was speaking to Magnus. He put his fist to the door and banged a few times to announce his presence, and then walked in without either of them acknowledging.

"Oh Camille. Didn't realize you were here." He said dismissively. "Magnus can I talk to you for a sec?"

Magnus turned slowly from the window overlooking his club and gave Alec a sort of glazed look. If he didn't know Magnus as well as he did, he'd almost say he looked drugged, but he hadn't touched any of that stuff in years. Upon closer inspection he'd just zoned out, so potentially whatever Camille was saying he hadn't been listening to. "Of course Alexander, what can I do for you?"

Camille huffed and said with a harsh sneer, "Magnus I wasn't done."

Alec had learned a few things in FBI training and one of them was how to assert himself in a conversation. He twisted himself between the two of them, cutting off her line of sight to Magnus and then straightened his posture so every inch of his 6 ft 3 frame towered over her, then he let his raised brow and resting bitch face do the talking.

Camille rolled her eyes and said "fine, we'll finish up later." She whirled around and stalked out of the room. Alec turned slowly back around to face Magnus.

A soft almost quiet look of vulnerability hung around him, and Alec struggled with the idea that he should go wrap himself around the man to protect him from the evil bitch that just left his office. He and Magnus weren't close like that though. Clary or Isabelle would have been across the room and wrapped around him before Camille had turned to leave. Alec clenched his hands into fists by his side, not entirely certain where this reaction was coming from. Magnus sat his drink down on his desk, which he'd clearly been using as a prop, and visibly attempted to shake off Camille's venom. Alec watched as he built a mask and put it on so he could face Alec. "What can I do for you Alexander? I wasn't expecting you to drop by."

Magnus tone was fake, his expression was fake, and Alec wondered how many times over the years Magnus had used this face, this tone on him and he had been completely oblivious. How many times had he been so wrapped up in himself, that he missed the pain coursing behind his sister's best friends eyes. "Yeah it was a whim, sorry I should have called, but I went ahead and made the key for you and I thought I'd drop it off for you on my way home." Alec made sure not to raise his voice, and pulled the key out of his pocket. Magnus smiled at him and held out his hand. Alec ignored his hand and sat it on the desk, then he made a snap decision.

He grabbed Magnus' hand closing his fingers around his wrist, "If you needed help, you know I'd help you right. If you need something…"Alec trailed off.

Magnus pulled his hand away abruptly, and waved it airily in front of his face. "Everything's fine darling, Camille and I have spats all the time. Nothing to worry about."

Alec was paying attention though, and Magnus was lying. His face was drawn, and his eyes were nervously darting around the office unable to settle. God damn it. He vowed in that instant that he would pay closer attention to Magnus. Case or no case, they may not be best friends, but he still considered him, well….family, and there was nothing Alec took more seriously than family. "If you're sure. Anyway, sorry to interrupt, if you need anything for the party let me know." Alec turned to leave the office and heard Magnus' quiet "of course darling." as he walked out of the office. He jogged down the steps and quickly left the building.

He'd barely shut the door of the uber he'd left waiting, when he opened his phone and called his sister. On the second ring he hung up with a curse. He couldn't actually tell her what had happened at Pandemonium, because she'd ask why he'd been there in the first place. There was literally 0 reason for him to swing by and speak with Magnus, not one she wouldn't blow out of proportion anyway. With a frustrated groan he shoved his phone back in his pocket and scowled.

His case at the office was to look into Magnus' activities to see if he was a part of Camille's schemes, but he was honestly more worried about the vicious gleam in her eyes when she spoke to him. Was she like that every day? How long had it been going on? Why didn't he know about it?

Striding through his front door, he breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Clary. She would at least be able to catch him up on whatever the hell gossip he was apparently oblivious to. It was too bad she gave him far more than he bargained for.


	3. Chapter 3

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Camille sat in her office at Pandemonium and twirled her hair around her fingers. She hated this club, she hated the noise, the clientele, and Magnus across the hall from her. The place wasn't dirty, Magnus wouldn't actually stand for that, but it was still far below what she considered classy. Drugs weren't dealt on their premises, and their bartenders had strict orders to cut people off after a certain amount, but it was still a grungy club. Magnus actually ran a pretty tight ship, and it was one of the reasons she'd singled him out so many years ago. He was exceptionally competent, she liked competency in a man. She regretted that decision some days. As an outsider, she knew without a doubt that he wouldn't be in her father's pocket, he'd get the job done. Too bad his father was worse than hers.

She'd grown up under her father's thumb, and she made damn sure she'd never have to be back in that position, but she was pretty damn close. Adamantly against having a family, all she wanted in life was to be filthy rich and not have to worry about anything. So far, she hadn't achieved either one of those goals, but if she kept playing the right cards, both were just within her grasp. She just had to hold on a little longer and she could have the house, the dog, the boy toy, and no fucking worries.

Her phone vibrated on the desk and she answered it with barely a glance at the number. Very few people had the number to this phone.

"There's a problem."

"Is it going to cause a delay?" She asked with a snap in her voice.

"Yes. I think you need to come have a look."

Camille cursed under her breath. The club didn't really need her, but she'd wanted to ask Magnus what the hell Alec had been doing here. His presence was unusual, and FBI made her twitch. Meeting with Hodge took precedence. Hodge Starkweather was a competent man, so it could be minor, or it could be one more thing for her to worry about, but he wasn't prone to dramatics so she had better go look. She sighed. "I'll be out there in an hour."

"Come around back, I'll send you the new code."

She managed to beat the traffic but it still took her an hour and a half to get to the warehouse where they stored their merchandise. She used the new code and walked to the back where Hodge was standing over the body of a dead boy. Underage dead boy. "Fuck" she said as she calculated the cost of this screw up. "What happened?"

"Shot." Hodge said quietly.

"Valentine."

"Yeah".

Camille barely contained her furious shout. "Valentine is a problem." This wasn't the first time Valentine had disposed of one of their finds. This boy would have made them a great deal of money on the market, now he was nothing but a lost profit.

"He's more than a problem ma'am, he's a liability, this is the 5th kill." Hodge straightened his suit jacket and Camille appreciated his brevity.

"I agree."

"Shall I see to it?"

"Yes, his neurotic ideology is costing us money."

Camille was relieved that Hodge had framed everything in such a way. She hadn't liked Valentine from the start, he'd seemed far too unstable but he'd been sort of okay at getting the job done. These days he could barely be controlled, and his crusade had turned him into a fuck up. "Is there any connection to us on the body?"

"No ma'am, you want me to dump it?" Hodge rubbed his jaw, clearly already thinking of how exactly he was going to get rid of the boys body.

Camille sighed looking down at the small boy. He was pale and motionless, as young as he was he'd probably been a ball of energy when alive. Hell only knows why Valentine had felt the need to shoot the kid, but that was hardly her biggest worry. Dead he was just a thing she had to dispose of. "Yeah, do what you think is best. I'll call Asmodeus and let him know what happened, and inform him of our plans for Valentine." God she did not want to make that call. Asmodeus was difficult at the best of times, and not for nothing she wondered how much easier the past chunk of years would have been if Asmodeus had a little more Magnus in him and Magnus had a little more Asmodeus.

Well a mistake was a mistake, and Valentine had made his last one.

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Alec sat on his couch and watched Clary make herself comfortable.

"So why do you want to know about Camille and Magnus all of a sudden? You were very hands off when it was all going down." Clary asked suspiciously.

Alec shrugged. "I ran into them at Pandemonium tonight and I realized I didn't know anything about...well anything with them. Why'd they break up?"

Clary raised her brow. "What were you doing at the club?"

Alec glared. "This isn't a question for a question. I was giving him the key to the place so he could do the party this weekend."

Clary hummed at him. "Fine. It's old news anyway. She cheated on him, regularly and with a variety of different people. Magnus was scared to end it because she's part owner of the club, and because she's a manipulative bitch. She convinced him that he wasn't enough for her and that's why she had to sleep around. She's the literal actual worst person I've ever met. Magnus has spent the past 3 years trying to amass enough money to buy her out."

Alec thought back on the interaction he'd seen between the two of them and scowled. "Does he talk to anyone about her, about what she's like at work?"

"No, Izzy tries obviously, and so do Ragnor and Cat, but from what they say he's close lipped about anything to do with Camille. Now why are you asking.." Clary was nervously rubbing her hands together and Alec knew there wasn't a whole lot he could do to calm the anxiety.

"I don't really know what's going on yet Clary, but as soon as I have something I'll let you know." Alec hedged. Clary didn't believe him, he saw that she didn't, but he also saw that she trusted him to handle the situation.

"If you need us…"

"My first call. I promise." Alec stood up and hugged her like the sister he thought of her as. They both sat back down. "Where's Jace anyway?"

"He got called in about 5 minutes before you got here. They found a dead girl washed up on shore down by the docks." Clary pulled the couch blanket over the both of them and pulled up netflix. Alec frowned, that makes the 4th dead body Jace had been called in for in the past three weeks. That was an uptick even for New York. He made a mental note to ask him about it when he got home.

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Magnus put the key in his front door and took a deep breath, immediately calmed by the scent wafting across his nose. Rubbing his eyes heedless of the eyeliner and mascara that he wore, he ran a hand through his hair that had gone flat hours ago. It was well after 3 am and though he dearly loved his club, sometimes he did wish he could clear it out a little more quickly. Though, the night had been better than most as Camille had cleared out after Alec's visit and he hadn't seen her again.

Magnus unbuttoned his cuffs and came to a dead stop in his living room. Someone had been in his house. He could smell it, the faint hint of Irish Spring. What idiot burglar washed with such distinctive, and nasty smelling, soap? Looking around he tried to see if anything was out of order but without his lights he couldn't tell. Was this paranoia? Was there any way to be certain? Damnit, this feeling of utter betrayal and filth reminded him all too well of growing up with Asmodeus.

Magnus settled his nerves and knew that a dark look had overtaken his face. He was not about to let someone invade his goddamn home without doing something about it. Grabbing his phone from his pocket he commanded his home security system to run a report, for Google to turn all of his lights on, and then started a slow walk through his house taking pictures of every room. He'd compare them to the security camera feeds. Whoever had done it was more than likely smart enough to stay off the cameras, but maybe not smart enough to put everything back exactly as it was.

Magnus went to his room and stripped off his shirt and jewelry. He left everything in a pile on the floor, and he grabbed a black t-shirt and slipped it over his head. In the bathroom he wet a towel and washed the make-up off of his face. His last stop was to pick up the memory card from his security system, and head out the door.

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Once Lydia was on board with the idea of finding Alec a husband, she was like a whirlwind of tidal force winds battering against him. It had taken him hours the night before to fill out Lydia's questionnaire. Jace had finally come home and he and Clary had helped fill the packet out, with Jace commenting at least every five minutes "I don't even know half this crap about Clary. Clary motivates you to get out of bed in the morning? Why don't I know this stuff?" And on it went. Until all the questions in the packet were answered and he'd sent it off to Lydia.

She'd asked for another meeting, so here he was taking half a day off work and talking about sex kittens. What the hell?

"Seriously Alec, you need to pick a style. Business man is not a style. It's not what you wear at your most comfortable, and it's not what you wear when you want to go out and meet people. What do you want them to think you are? A gym rat looking for love, a hippie boy, a dandy, a mountain man, a prep, or a playboy or something else. It needs to make you feel sexy, you need to feel confident and comfortable."

"I mean gymrat looking for love would probably be accurate." Alec said hesitantly.

"Oh for gods sake. We're going with the rebel look I think, you do genuinely look good in black and you like leather. We'll add some colorful shirts, but give you a couple of different moto jackets for style." Lydia said thoughtfully as she swiped through her phone.

"What the hell is that, it wasn't even one of the choices!" Alec puts his hands on his hips and frowns.

"Also your hair is going to look great." Lydia said with a snap of the popit on her phone.

"Hairstyle, what hairstyle?"

"Well yeah, google hollywood rebel Alec and they've all got very nice hair. Now come on." Lydia commanded and she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards the barber shop they'd parked in front of. The man that sat them down had a beer in Alec's hand less than a minute after he'd made himself comfortable.

"Jake will be with you in just a few minutes. He'll fix you right up, no worries." Alec nodded along, and watched as a big burly man with a beard made his way over. Jake presumably.

"I'll just have a quick chat with him, you relax."

Alec laid back, and finished his beer before he could say anything another one was in his hand. An hour later and he felt like walking on a cloud. They'd massaged his head. He'd only ever had his hair done at supercuts, when it needed to be done and Jace wasn't available, he'd never been treated to a full head massage in his life. His hair no longer hung over his ears, his part was ambiguous and the man had styled it in a way that Alec would never be able to repeat, but even he had to admit it looked damn good.

Then the torture began. The literal living torture of shopping in the mall with Lydia. Dear god, he should have just asked Magnus he thought. At least he could have whined his way out of it, and Magnus would have brought everything he should buy back to him, he could have paid and been out the damned door. But not Lydia. No Lydia made him walk into each store. She made him pick stuff out, and then she told him why he was wrong until he caught on to what she was doing.

By the end of the shopping trip he knew exactly what kinds of clothes he should and shouldn't buy. To be fair he learned a lot, but to be honest he wanted to curl up on his couch and die. Not to mention he'd basically had to take the day off work for this nonsense.

In the end he realized that she'd kept to his taste. He hadn't picked out anything he didn't like, which was interesting because he'd never attempted to dress himself in a way that he really wanted. As they wound down, Lydia grabbed his phone out of his hand.

"The last thing I'm going to have you do is go here. I'm not going with you as it's a personal thing, but I think….from personal experience...that if you buy a few things from here you won't be disappointed." She handed his phone back with a sly grin.

Alec took it back warily and his eyes nearly fell out of his head at the website. "I can't."

"It never hurts to try, and you are trying to step out of your comfort zone a little right. Anyway, are you going to put on something nice and head to a club now?"

"I hadn't really thought about it. Maybe."

"I've heard Pandemonium is good. Do you dance?" She asked casually.

"I mean yea kinda, and yes Pandemonium is good."

"Do you think you'll go out tonight?"

"Maybe, not sure." Alec didn't really want to go out alone.

"Well keep in mind, sometimes once you get started, it's easier to let the ball keep rolling." Lydia said sagely.

Alec shrugged. Maybe she was right. "Alright I'll think about it. I don't really know how to act like a rebel though…"

Lydia cut him off, "Oh no Alec it's just a clothing style, not a personality. You do you, be yourself so you don't even have to worry about it."

"That didn't work before."

"Well hun, you weren't really trying before. Now you are, and trust me...people will notice."

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Alec paused at the entrance to the club. After careful deliberation he'd decided that he could do this alone, at least for tonight. He really just wanted to see what kind of reaction his new look got. Lydia had been right, he'd never really tried before. He'd never done anything more than throw his picture up on a dating app. Alec drew in a breath and pushed his way into the club, waving at Maia and Meliorn as he made his way to one of the seating areas on the side of the bar.

Maia leaned over and pushed a drink in his direction. They knew each other well enough that she knew his label without asking. Even though this was not his preferred drinking spot, she and Jace were really good friends. She winked at his nod, and went back to her other customers. The crowd was pretty lively tonight, the bar full and the dance floor was packed. Colored lights strobed around the room, and the beat music was on point. It was a huge bone of contention in their household, but Alec adored club music. Izzy liked rap and Jace liked rock, they both gave him hell for his adoration of pop music, but Alec didn't care.

He took stock of the men in the room and realized belatedly that he fit right in. He was neither over or under dressed for the place, and that set him at ease. A tall red headed man with wide shoulders caught his eye, then he made his way over with a drink in his hand.

"Hello!" He said loudly over the music.

"Hey" Alec replied.

"You here with someone?" He asked, leaning casually against the bar beside Alec.

Holy shit. The man was trying to pick him up, and Alec had done nothing more than sit at the damn bar. "Yeah." He lied just in case he needed to make a quick exit.

The man looked him up and down, "You dance?"

Alec arched his brow and shrugged. Why the hell not. He knew how, you couldn't be friends with Clary or Izzy's brother without knowing. So he followed the man onto the dance floor.

"Name's Nick." He said as he slid in close to Alec.

"Alec."

"You been here before man, don't think I've seen you."

Alec shook his head and frowned a bit on the inside. This guy came here enough to know the regulars, good lord.

Nick turned his head, and his distraction was apparently all that was needed because a stocky blonde guy slipped right in to take his place. "What the hell Paul, go away I asked him first." Nick growled.

Paul, with 0 shame, shrugged and grinned at Alec, "You should pay more attention to your dates Nick." With those words he swirled Alec away, and he couldn't help but grin over the guys shoulder. Alec danced for another hour, moving from partner to partner. Weston, Bill, and Josh. Josh had handed him off to Val, and Alec was finally winding down.

"Sorry buddy, I need a break."

"No problem, let me buy you a drink. Beer, wine…?" Alec considered him, he had a shaved head, dark brows and stubble on his face, with an earring in his left ear. He wasn't unattractive, but not really Alec's type.

"Just water."

"Ah come on let me get you something." Val cajoled.

Alec felt a tingle in his spine and shrugged. "I'm good really."

"A coke then." Val said eagerly.

Alec watched the man closely as he said yes, something about him was triggering a sense of something. He couldn't put his finger on it, but the man rubbed him all the wrong ways.

He turned into the crowd to go to the bar, and Alec watched him go. Distracted as he was by watching Val, he missed the surge in people around the dance floor. They shuffled him aside when a man slung an arm around Alec's waist and said "let's dance".

Alec startled and let his defense training take over, his hand had the other guys bent backwards and his heel in the guys foot before he'd taken another step. It was a simple thing to continue the move and push the guy to the ground like he was going to put cuffs on him. Well shit he thought.

The man yelled, and the dance floor went nuts. People falling all over other people, someone took exception to someone else, and from one minute to the next an all out club fight had started. Alec sighed. A tidal wave of bodies began to flow around him, so he followed the mass exodus of the club. A cool hand wrapped around his wrist and jerked him backwards out of the crowd and up by the bar into one of the first floor offices. Well this was humiliating he thought.

His face burning he turned to apologize to what he thought was the bouncer, but instead he was staring down at Magnus. The apology froze on his tongue. The sound of breaking glass could be heard beyond the door and he winced.

"Well well darling, twice in one week. You want to tell me what exactly you're doing here, and why you started a brawl on my dance floor?" Magnus said calmly.

"I can explain." He said a little nervously. No one knew but Lydia, Jace, and Clary. To tell Magnus what he was doing would be embarrassing as hell.

"Oh, well lay it on me then, in the space of less than 30 seconds you started a brawl and nearly arrested a man. Not bad for your first solo outing here, warn me next time and I'll be sure to stay home." Magnus said with an almost growl.

Alec winced. Magnus really didn't like people messing with his club. "Honestly it was an accident. That man grabbed me from behind and I was distracted. I just reacted, I really didn't mean to Magnus."

Magnus rubbed his forehead, and it was right then that Alec noticed Magnus was off. He wasn't wearing eyeliner and his usual jewelry was nowhere to be seen. He was also wearing just a t-shirt and jeans. What the fuck. "Hey are you okay?" He stepped forward almost raising his hand to his face to check Magnus' eyes, but pulled himself back when he quickly reminded himself he didn't have the right.

Magnus looked up with a wan smile. "Just tired. I stayed at Izzy's last night and I haven't had a chance to get back home so I'm wearing yesterday's clothes. I was headed up to my office to change when I saw you on the dance floor."

Alec accepted his explanation. "Thanks for pulling me out of the crowd. I suppose I should deal with the sirens I hear coming this way."

Magnus looked surprised. "Would you?"

"Of course, god it was my fault." Alec shook his head. "You go on up and get changed, I'll take care of everything." Magnus gave him another wan smile, and turned around to head up the stairs in the back. That was it, something wasn't right and Alec was going to find out what. He shot a text off to Izzy asking for what she knew. He'd deal with this, go home, and tomorrow by god he was going to sit Magnus down and figure this shit out. Alec didn't like unsolved mysteries, and whatever was bothering Magnus was bothering him. With that decision made, he headed out to the bar to wait on the NYPD.


	4. Chapter 4

Alec woke up at 7:00 the next morning to a phone call from Luke. Alec answered it a little groggily but he was awake. "Sir."

"Alec, listen, NYPD has another unidentified body on their hands." Alec was instantly alert. "He's young, no ID, we think probably Hispanic. A ferryman found him last night."

Missing persons and dead bodies were not generally something Alec concerned himself with, Jace yes, him not so much. Most of his work was money related. "Okay, and?"

"Well, they don't have shit to go on other than the kid was shot. The bullet was pulled out, all traces washed clean." Alec hummed along, surely the director had a reason for calling.

"His hand was stamped." Well shit. There it was. "Not Pandemonium, but NYPD has had several murders in the past few weeks. All the kids were shot and all of them had nightclub stamps."

"How can I help?"

"Well I know you're watching Camille, and looking over Magnus for me. If you happen to find yourself in the club, can you just watch out for me." Alec winced, he should really probably start hitting the books on that. He'd kind of been slacking off.

"Sir, is there anything official on this?"

"No of course not. I'm talking to Jace and Clary too, in fact any young kids I know in law enforcement that could legitimately hang out in clubs during their off time. This makes five kids killed. If we keep it off record, it's easy enough to push probable cause."

"This is a very long shot."

"Well yeah, but damn it none of us like seeing the bodies of kids turn up on the medical examiners table. To that end you should probably give Izzy a call. She got this one."

Well shit that's why she hadn't texted back. Alec sighed. He'd give her a call in a minute.

"Alright, I'm in. I hear anything or see anything, I'll pass it along." Alec thought back to Val last night at the club. Man really did rub him the wrong way, but he'd been hitting on Alec and Alec didn't fit the profile according to what Jace had been saying, the bodies were all teenage boys and girls.

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Hodge Starkweather was a professional. One of the reasons he and Camille worked so well together was because he didn't draw attention to himself. He wasn't brash, didn't do drugs, kept everything as evenly balanced as he could. He was an "Average Joe", short sandy hair, boring clothes, and he watched his damn mouth. He never drew too much attention. That's why Valentine disgusted him. The dead kids weren't important, but their bodies were starting to draw attention. He was jeopardizing everything they'd all worked so damn hard for, and if he got picked up for the murders he'd sing like a god damn canary.

So Valentine had to go. If Camille hadn't said so, he'd have done it anyway. Camille for all the appearance of class, was one of the coldest most ruthless people he'd ever done business with. He had seen a lot in his years, but she was someone he wouldn't cross. Valentine really should have thought twice, eliminating him was going to be a huge relief.

First he had to find the shifty motherfucker though, Valentine had gone to ground, spooked by something. Hodge wanted to put a bullet between his eyes, but unfortunately that would draw attention. He needed to find a way to keep this as low key as possible. His phone rang and he groaned.

"Have you found Valentine yet?" Camille's sharp tone came through his bluetooth speaker.

"No." Hodge said annoyed. If he'd found the bastard he would have called. "I've dropped lines at his favorite places, he pops up and I'll know."

"Asmodeus is not happy. There were buyers lined up for the boy. Now that buyer has to shop around, and we're out the cash. Asmodeus wants Valentine's head."

"Understood. If I make noise he'll bolt. I'll get him, we just need to be patient."

"Asmodeus has no patience and you know it. Shit it was a lot of money."

Hodge shrugged. The boy was supposedly virginal, and they always came with a higher price tag, the sick fucks that wanted them kept them in high demand. Whatever happened to the kids after he delivered them was not his concern, they were products, and he delivered and there was no shortage of shitty people in this world to do the buying. "We have another boat coming in next week. Do we have an alternate location for storage? Valentine being loose means we're compromised. I don't want this overheard by the wrong ears."

Camille cursed, then clenched her hands into fists. There were only so many places they could store their merchandise and bring buyers in to view it. "I'll find a place and keep you posted." She mentally reviewed the warehouse space available to her that Valentine wasn't aware of. She'd go check some things out today.

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Alec opened the door to the Mediterranean restaurant and wrinkled his nose at the smell of lemons. Not his favorite. Spotting just the people he needed to see, he walked over to their table. Magnus, Clary, Isabelle, Simon, Jace, and Alec when he could, all had lunch together at least once a week. He was using their family lunch as an excuse to drag Magnus away and talk to him. Alec hadn't had a chance to talk to anyone about what happened at the club, and Izzy had been radio silent on his questions about Magnus, so into the belly of the beast as it were.

Magnus was looking more like himself, a royal blue silk shirt that would probably hit him mid thigh when he stood, necklaces, and eyeliner all was as it should be. He was as polished as ever, and Alec rubbed his wrist with the memory of Magnus' touch on his hand. Get it together he ordered himself.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" He asked.

"Sure." Magnus replied with a smile.

Alec looked around the table at all the curious faces and scowled. "Can we take a walk." Hell this was probably the worst time he could have approached him. What the hell had he been thinking?

Magnus frowned at him but stood from the table, "Did something last night?"

Alec cut him off as everyone at the table's eyes widened with delightful interest. "Everything is fine. I just have something I'd like to ask you." Magnus followed him away from the table and when they rounded the corner he began to giggle. Alec looked at him confused. "What?"

"You do know they think we're hiding something from them right?" Magnus smiled at him softly and Alec momentarily lost his train of thought. Magnus was gorgeous, so damned gorgeous, too bad he just wasn't really marriage material. He liked parties, and fun, and well everything Alec wasn't. He sighed, caught his stupid moony behavior, and snapped back to attention. He was here for a reason.

"What are you hiding?" Alec watched him closely.

"I'm not hiding anything." Lie. That was a bald faced lie.

"Lie." Alec snapped.

Magnus eyes narrowed, his brow dropped, and with his eyeliner he looked fierce as hell. Alec licked his lips. "What business is it of yours?" Magnus said harshly.

Alec stepped closer to him crowding him against the wall. "Someone or something is fucking with you Magnus, and you are hiding it from us. All of us." Alec put his finger under Magnus' chin to lift his face when Magnus tried to turn away. "That is absolutely my business." Magnus' face went tight and he glared, but Alec wasn't backing down. Magnus might be able to weasel out of most situations, but Alec could out stubborn him any day of the week, especially when he was worried.

Magnus shoved at him but Alec planted his feet. "I'm serious Magnus, we're not leaving this spot until you tell me what the hell is going on with you."

Magnus crossed his arms and sighed. "I considered telling you the other day, but Alec I have no proof. Nothing. Nada. I don't even know how to get the proof I need." With a frustrated groan he shoved Alec away from him. Alec let himself be moved this time.

"Tell me now. I don't care if you don't have proof." He followed Magnus as he walked down the sidewalk in frustration.

"I think Camille is embezzling money from the club, but I can't figure out how she's doing it. I don't understand any of it." Magnus rubbed his arms against the chill of New York. Alec slipped his jacket off and handed it to Magnus absently. He didn't need it and he'd dragged Magnus out of the restaurant without really giving him a chance to grab his own. He missed the confused look Magnus shot him as he took the jacket.

"You do know blue collar is my department, if you don't mind and you give me access, I can take a look and tell you one way or another." Alec pulled Magnus out of the way of a man not paying attention, and missed another look Magnus shot him.

"You'd do that?" Magnus stopped on the sidewalk and Alec turned to face him. Raising his brow he stared Magnus down. "Alright, okay, I knew you would. I don't know why I haven't already asked you. I'm just scared I guess. I don't want to lose everything I've worked for."

Alec backed Magnus up against the wall, his most serious expression on his face, "I'm not going to let that happen." Alec tugged the lapels of his jacket closed on Magnus. "Be honest with me though. Have you had anything to do with what Camille is doing?"

Magnus stared into his eyes. "No." Alec let out a relieved sigh and Magnus' eyes narrowed. "There's an official investigation isn't there?" Magnus groaned and leaned his head back against the wall. "You're jeopardizing it now by talking to me."

Alec shrugged. "Not really. I'm not officially on the case. I'm not officially on a lot of cases." He said with a scowl. "Luke asked me to dig around to make sure it's not getting pinned to you."

"Perfect. Just fucking perfect."

Alec didn't like the defeated set to Magnus' shoulders, so he stepped back from the wall and pulled Magnus with him. "Let's get back to the others."

They walked into the restaurant again and Magnus slipped Alec's jacket back to him. Clary raised her eyebrow at him, but he shrugged at her. They both sat back down and Clary announced to the table, "Alec your hair looks fantastic."

"Thanks." He said warily. Then his sister hit him with the solid punch.

"So how long have you and Magnus been seeing each other?"

"What, we're not." Alex started, but Magnus' dulcet tones overrode him.

"A week or so."

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Magnus watched Alec's face turn fire engine red and he laughed out loud. Teasing him was honestly the most fun he'd had in a long time. It was mostly true, he'd been actively seeking Alec out for about a week in the literal sense, but the undisguised horror on his face as he growled "We have NOT", with such vehemence, Magnus had the urge to check his face in the mirror. He didn't have horns or demon eyes, and except for Camille no one really complained about him before, so Alec's reaction was just slightly insulting. What was his deal?

"You all know we're just friends. Well not really. I mean he's Magnus, he was at the club with me last night when the fight began."

"Fight?" The table chorused together. Clary and Izzy looked gleeful, Simon looked horrified, and Jace was clearly betrayed.

"I didn't start it, well not exactly, but Magnus pulled me aside, and today I just had some follow up questions about…."

"What did you mean by "he's Magnus", are you implying something about my personage Alexander?" Magnus demanded, his eyes shining with delight at Alec's fumbling explanation.

"Nothing, well I mean except for...you aren't exactly…" His thoughts had apparently hit a wall, because he trailed off and put his head on the table.

"I thought we were friends." Magnus managed to keep a straight face and look solemn, a little hurt. He wasn't what? Alec's type? He'd go along with that. Alec was a cop, and Magnus was a club owner, the two things were not exactly compatible. Magnus liked glitter, Alec didn't.

"You did?" Came Alec's muffled reply from his arms. Clary was covering her mouth trying to muffle her laughter, Izzy wasn't even trying and Simon and Jace were both watching in fascination.

"Sure, you gave me a key to your place. Isn't that friendship goals?" He asked the table at large and Alec's groan vibrated the table. Clary lost her battle with her hand and burst into laughter.

"Oh my god, Magnus are you teaching Alec your moves. Are you going through his wardrobe with him?" Izzy asked delighted.

"No, no he is not. I'm moving. I gave him a key, because I'm moving out, I don't care what he destroys, I see what you all are doing." Alec said petulantly from his hiding spot on the table.

"What! you're moving?" Izzy said shocked, Magnus was just as shocked this was news to him.

"Yes, and I'm getting a dog and I'm going to teach it to bite certain people on command." Magnus hid his own grin. Alec was just too adorable. Poor Alec. He looked ready to explode. When the waiter brought the food, Magnus had to shift his chair, incidentally it put him directly in Alec's space. Izzy was on his other side, and when Alec tried to retreat she wouldn't let him. Magnus deliberately intruded upon his personal space, ensuring that their thighs touched, placing his hand on Alec's arm when he was talking. Alec couldn't read him the riot act in front of his family, and Magnus took full advantage.

By the time lunch was over, he'd pressed against every single one of Alec's nerves.

Well, let him be pissed, he thought as he went back home. Alec didn't like him like that huh? Didn't consider him dateable? Had been horrified at the thought of them together, that his friends and family might think they were seeing one another.

Too fucking bad, thought Magnus cheerfully. Part of it was because he'd known Alec for years, part of it was because teasing him was honestly too much fun, but another part of him was tired of hiding it all and he'd made up his mind...he was going to get into Alexander Gideon Lightwood's pants. He had a feeling he'd been stupid about Alec. If he'd just given it a shot years ago he might already be in his pants.

He hadn't really had a steady relationship since Camille, if what he had with her could even be called a relationship. Relationships were a lot of work, and he had a club to run and an ex to defend against. He honestly hadn't really been interested enough to make any kind of serious effort regarding anyone lately. Until now, that is. He'd always had a slow burn kind of interest in Alec he'd just never pursued him seriously, he had thought Alec had no interest in him. But the subtle signs were there. And Alec couldn't be more different than Camille.

Unless he had become completely senile, Alec was actually looking for a man. He'd changed his hair, his clothes, and he'd gone out to a club. Well Magnus was a man, and he volunteered as tribute. Magnus had no doubt he could convince Alec that he was in fact his type.

Now he just needed to stay out of trouble, and keep a close eye on Camille's bullshit. Alec's protective instinct had charmed Magnus, hell if he was honest, he'd always found Alec's taciturn attitude charming. His temper made him look pretty, and Magnus did enjoy poking at him, color him stupid. The thought of Alec wrapped around him made a shiver run across him. He had plans for those long legs of his, he bet they'd look glorious draped across him.

**8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8**

Alec tried to control his breathing. This wasn't a life or death mission. Hell he didn't even need his weapon. All he had to do was walk into the store. One step in front of the other. He could do it. This could be done. He didn't move from his spot behind the wheel of his car. It was a Wednesday night. Work was over. He'd come here at Lydia's suggestion, but he couldn't get his body to exit his car.

Not boring. Not boring. Not boring. Alec sing songed to himself. He should just do this online. Lydia had said he needed to be in store so he could feel the texture. So he could get a feel for what he liked. Then all future shopping could be done online, but he really needed to visit the store in person for the first one. Alec groaned, how did men do this. Other men. Not him. God he didn't think he could do this.

He could do this. He was a grown up damn it. Alec stepped out of his car and took in the store before him. Lydia had sent him to a classy place at least. There were no half naked men and women, or hell naked men and women covering the store front, it was all silver and glass fixtures with royal blue cloth. He was slightly impressed. Walking into the place was another thing altogether. If he had a purse he'd be clutching it to his chest right now, the image alone was so silly that he laughed at his own self and walked into the store.

Men's lingerie…..what the hell had he been thinking when he agreed to this. He pulled out his phone and called Lydia.

"Get your ass in that store." She demanded before he even had a chance to speak.

"Oh I'm in here you harpy. What the hell do I actually do?"

He heard her cackle and gave a small smile in return. Looking around the room, he was thankful for the incredibly dim lighting but he was also relieved. This really wasn't that bad. It was similar to Victoria's secret, if a little bit more posh.

"Buy some frilly pink panties and set the men of New York on fire. Do you honestly think you're the only man who's ever been in that store?" She asked obnoxiously.

"No damn it but this is embarrassing." He whisper shouted as he walked to the back of the store. Then did a complete about face when he saw what they kept at the back of the store. Front of the store it was as he marched his way back up to the front.

"Touch the fabric Alec, pick out something that you might like to see on someone else. Buy silk, buy lace, but whatever you do buy something." She demanded.

Alec put his hand on one of the tables and did as she said. He'd had sex with plenty of club boys, but most of the time he'd never seen what they were actually wearing. It was too dark. In college they'd all just worn boxers. He ran his hand over the black lace boyshort style underwear and had a moment to consider. This place sold actual panties, but there were briefs as well. He could buy a regular selection, and throw in a pair of experimental ones and that would probably be fine.

That is, until he looked up and saw Magnus walk in the store. Alec froze, then he died, then he froze again. "Fuck." he said into the phone.

Lydia's voice came through and she actually sounded a little concerned. "Alec are you okay?"

"Magnus just walked into this fucking store, are you fucking kidding me right now." Alec knew if he moved Magnus would look his way. He knew the man would walk over and this horror of an evening would be complete.

Lydia started laughing. Hysterically. Alec whisper shouted again as he inched his way backwards. "Woman if you do not shut the hell up."

"Oh my god Magnus is there, this is almost priceless. Maia and Jace both think you two are banging by the way." Lydia said between giggles.

Alec, deeply unconcerned with the gossiping busy bodies she called friends, looked down at the table in front of him, he was standing next to a table piled high with red, black, and gold thongs. Some had lace ruffles, some didn't, but every single one of them were a quarter of an inch the size of the underwear he hand on now. Diving under the table was a no go, letting Magnus see him by this table was definitely a no go, what the hell was he going to do. Panic washed over him in waves. "This is all your fault."

"Oh yes, all my fault." Lydia said wickedly.

"I hate you." He whisper shouted one final time, because Magnus finally caught sight of him and his Cheshire cat grin lit up his face as he walked over. "I hate you so much." He didn't bother to whisper that time, just hung up on Lydia as her laughter exploded again.

"Well darling, this is the very last place I thought I'd find you, but also the most delicious. Can I help you with your selection?" Magnus looked like a cat with cream and Alec just wanted to die.

"I don't need your help." Alec turned like he was about to leave the store, but Magnus caught his arm.

"Don't leave and don't be embarrassed, if you think I haven't seen everything in this store on someone at the club at some point you are very much mistaken." Magnus said matter of factly. "There is absolutely nothing wrong with being interested in silk."

"That wasn't me though, I don't know what I'm doing and Lydia just told me I had to buy something." Alec said meekly.

"Alexander, there is nothing in this store that wouldn't look divine on you, and if there's anyone that can give you advice on what underwear to buy it's me. Why you were even talking to Lydia is a mystery." Magnus pulled Alec along behind him, over to a table sort of in the middle. He grabbed several pairs and handed them to Alec.

"Magnus seriously, this isn't…"

"Alec, who do you think goes shopping with Clary for Jace's underwear? And Simon's? I know what every single one of them wear, this is hardly different." Yeah thought Alec, they don't actually want to see you naked though, and with that thought Alec admitted defeat.

He wanted Magnus. Even though he was completely unsuitable, he wasn't the settling down kind, but dammit Magnus was fun. He didn't let Alec get away with being a bystander, and Alec admitted he wanted that, even if it was only temporary. Sighing in defeat he followed along behind the whirlwind of Magnus Bane. Magnus continued to flit around the store dragging a red faced Alec along with him.

"I like these." Alec said a little shyly as he picked out a pair of well panties were the only word Alec had in his head for them. They probably wouldn't cover all of his ass, but they didn't look horrifically uncomfortable. They were black and see through with little red filigree style flowers along the sides.

Magnus' eyes lit up, "Those are gorgeous. You should definitely get them." Alec blushed a little bit, but preened under the approval. Magnus had picked out mostly black underwear, silk and lace but conservative compared with some of the styles in the store. Alec liked every pair. With the underwear selection firmly picked out, they started to make their way to the register but Alec stopped. He wanted to test something.

"What is it darling?" Magnus asked a little distractedly.

"Lydia said I should get something in pink lace…" Alec watched Magnus' face. His eyes glazed over, his mouth went just a little slack. Alec smiled his own Cheshire cat grin. Magnus was interested, despite never showing any kind of obvious interest that Alec could see, he was definitely interested. "Maybe I'll come back and get something like that later." He said offhandedly as he walked up to the registers.


	5. Chapter 5

Hodge was pissed. Valentine had been at Pandemonium, right under Camille's nose, but by the time Hodge had made it there, he was gone and the NYPD was sorting the place out after the brawl. Damnit, he couldn't catch a break, it was bad luck, but he really wanted to get this done and over with. If he'd been half an hour earlier, he could have breathed a whole hell of a lot easier.

Valentine was out of hiding, which increased the opportunity for running him to ground, but Hodge felt uneasy about how complicated everything had become. Valentine was a hell of a lot slippier than he thought, just not slick enough not to kill the merchandise. He rubbed his forehead. Meliorn, the bartender at Pandemonium, owed him a few favors. When Hodge knocked on his door, he wasn't all that surprised.

Stare placid, face devoid of emotion the man said softly "I called you as soon as I saw him. It was unfortunate that someone started a fight soon after."

Hodge just shrugged. "No worries." Hodge wasn't really there to cause Meliorn problems. "Did you notice if he was with anyone?"

"No, he was not. He did buy two drinks for himself. A beer and a coke."

Well shit thought Hodge, he'd hooked up with someone or at least tried to, and because the brawl had more than likely interrupted his activities he'd be on the prowl soon. Hodge shook his head, what the hell had Valentine been thinking showing up at Pandemonium. How did the moron not know that Camille was out for his blood? It defied all reason.

"I appreciate it Mel. Keep an eye out for him tomorrow if you can. He might not be there, but if he is let me know as soon as you see him." Hodge passed the bartender a few bills. "You were definitely on point, can't help if a fight starts." It was too bad when Valentine disappeared, Meliorn would have to go too, but that was life. Smart men didn't leave loose ends.

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A black sedan pulled into Lydia's driveway, and a small thin woman stepped from the vehicle. She strode up the sidewalk and mounted the steps, the front door opened before she even stepped on the porch.

"So how'd it go at the club?" Lydia asked as she led the way to the kitchen, where the scent of freshly brewed coffee settled around the two women.

"He's a surprisingly good dancer," the smaller woman said neutrally. She had black hair that swung just passed her shoulders, and dark brown eyes, a slim build and olive skin. She would probably blend in almost anywhere, she had the look of someone who knew how to keep her head down.

"Anyone come onto him?"

The woman let out a small giggle and then coughed to cover her slip up. "Hell men were all over him. He has an innate air of pure mystery and bad ass energy that just glows off of him, the rainbow wrist band he had on sent a wave through the crowd. He's walking sex, and the little bastard doesn't even have to try. It's kind of gross." She opened up a cabinet door and took down a coffee cup, then filled it.

Lydia grinned. That was exactly the effect she'd aimed for in Alec's makeover, not that he really needed that much work. She was rather proud of her efforts. "Anyone buy him a drink?"

"He didn't really have time to drink anything. He hit the dance floor and then danced for awhile before a fight broke out. Some guy grabbed him, and his training clearly took over because he had him on the ground in 10 seconds flat. Pretty impressive."

Lydia's brow furrowed. "Did you follow up?"

The other woman arched her brow, the "do you really need to ask" all over her face. "He was clean. Magnus was there, he pulled Alec aside for a minute. They argued I think, Magnus left a minute later." The woman took a sip of her coffee and then frowned. "This is a shit idea Lydia."

"I agree!" Lydia said fiercely, she sipped her own coffee and then leaned back against her cabinets with a sigh. "It's better than no idea at all. And hell he's perfect."

"We can't keep tabs on every move he makes. Is he going to just ask your permission every time he goes out? Are we stalkers now, have we stooped that low?"

"No and we won't have to. I just, I just really need to see before we say anything."

"You really expect this to work?"

"Look, he's doing this anyway, with or without me. At least this way we'll get to…" She ran her hand across the back of her neck.

"I do have a life you know. Clubbing is for children and those without someone waiting for them at home." Her dark brow rose annoyingly judgmental, "I might miss an episode of Brooklyn 99."

"I'll buy the season for you."

"Fuck you."

"In your dreams sweetheart."

The smaller woman burst out laughing. "Good god, not even close. My dream woman is in my bed, no room for you." She winked, then sighed. "We really do need to focus on the job we were sent down here for."

"And we are, we're just scoping out the lay of the land and playing our hand a little smarter than we have been."

The woman's dark eyes narrowed at Lydia. "Is that what we're going to put on our reports? We've been working for over a year and a half, what are the odds this all blows up in our faces?"

"Look, there's this pressure, can't you feel it? Like something is about to explode. We need to be prepared for it to dump on us, is what I'm saying. And Alec, Alec's going to be the one that's hurt if we don't stay sharp. So get it together, be smart, and it'll finally be over."

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"So, how much did you wind up buying?" Lydia asked conversationally, her amusement evident. Alec groaned over the phone and she had to resist the urge to laugh out loud at him.

"None of your business and I still hate you." She did laugh then, he sounded like such a petulant five year old. She really had missed his grumpy ass, it was too bad they lost touch after college.

"So, did you at least try them on for Magnus in the dressing room? I'm sure he'd have appreciated the show." She said through her giggles.

"I'm hanging up, in fact I'm never answering when you call again. Between you and my god awful siblings, I'm never going to get a boyfriend. You are all ruining everything." Lydia shifted her phone to her other ear, confused.

"What are you talking about?"

"If you all keep pushing me at Magnus, like we're a "thing"..."

"You mean an affair," Lydia said helpfully.

"..then it's going to be difficult for me to find an actual boyfriend, because the owner of Pandemonium might not like it. Magnus isn't famous, but he is well known, damnit."

"I can see where that would be a problem, Magnus can be a bit vindictive given the provocation."

"You really have no idea. He once stole my clothes when I was showering in the local gym. I had to call Clary to come give me clothes, and I had to walk around the damn gym in a towel. And it was because I told him throwing a party for his cat was stupid. A little vindictive my ass."

Lydia was rolling. "Oh god that sounds just like Magnus." She wiped a tear from her eye. "So if Magnus is off the table, are you going out tonight?"

"I didn't say off the table, I just said not suitable. And, nah I'm moving into my house tomorrow, the movers are packing my stuff now."

Lydia chose to ignore the Magnus remark, instead focusing on his new home. "Do you have enough furniture? You've lived with Jace for a long time."

"Yeah, Mom is actually giving me some stuff from storage. I'm all set. I might need help picking out curtains though. If you want to come with Izzy and me when we go shopping, I'd welcome the buffer."

Lydia chuckled. "Send me the time and place, and I'll be there."

Alec moved into the little house that Lydia had suggested on Friday Morning, purely exhausted he dropped onto the couch and grinned. He was sad knowing he wouldn't be coming home to Jace and Clary every day, but at the same time he couldn't deny the excitement of having his own space. The movers had taken care of everything, he didn't even have to unpack, modern conveniences for the win. He didn't have a lot of things, simple things like curtains and pots and pans. He'd left all of that at the apartment, he and Clary had picked out most of it, but he wanted a fresh start. That meant picking things out for himself.

The little house had a small fenced back yard, and he'd kind of been joking at lunch the other day, but he genuinely thought he might get a dog. He'd get the shopping marathons out of the way first.

Groceries were first, then household items like a vacuum cleaner and a mop. He hauled it all home, and then spent the rest of the morning cleaning and arranging things that he did have to his liking. When Alec wasn't running a swifter over every inch of his space, he was shopping with Izzy and Lydia for new stuff for his house.

"You're like a little tiger, pouncing on things you want with no hesitation whatsoever." Lydia said looking at him appraisingly.

Izzy immediately laughed. "Alec's always had a one track mind."

"I can see that. I mean, he knows exactly what he wants. It's somewhat curious to me that he would ever ask for help looking for a man or with help changing his life." Lydia and Alec had filled Izzy in on why they were spending so much time together lately. Izzy had been briefly hurt that Alec hadn't asked for her help, but quickly recovered when Alec told her they may not have survived the ordeal. She had petulantly agreed.

"I didn't really know what I should do. Curtains and throw pillows are easy. Changing who I am so someone doesn't think I'm the most boring guy he's ever met….that was more than I knew how to do." Alec said with an absent shrug.

Izzy and Lydia looked at one another. "Alec, you're not actually changing who you are...you get that right." Lydia said concerned.

"Yeah of course I know that." Alec said, but he wouldn't meet either one of their eyes, and Lydia felt real concern in the pit of her stomach. Before she could push further, Alec was off walking to the other side of the store, in search of new sheets.

"I'll talk to him." Izzy said picking up on Lydia's concern. They spent another hour poking around in stores looking for little things the house might need. As they parted ways Lydia hugged Alec.

"So after all of this are you going out tonight? Friday's are usually pretty busy you might find the perfect man"

Alec laughed in her hair. "Yeah I doubt it, but I'll probably go out, I need a break and hell dancing was pretty fun."

She smiled on his shoulder. "Be careful, and have fun."

"Yeah, of course."

Friday nights at Pandemonium were always jam packed, so Meliorn wasn't really sure how long Valentine had been there before he saw him holding a beer and leaning over a woman in her 30's with enough makeup on her face that he could see the sparkle from across the room. She wasn't really looking all that impressed with Val, she kept turning back to the woman beside her and speaking, but Val wasn't taking the obvious hint.

Mel didn't look over again, he just grabbed his cell and called Hodge. "He's here."

"Well shit," Hodge said conversationally, "I really needed to chat with him, but I'm at work. Oh well, I'll catch him another time."

"Sure," Meliorn said and hung up.

Hodge slid his phone in his pocket, called two of his associates and simply said "Meet at Pandemonium in 2o. Bring your gear." Hodge pulled on a baseball cap, put his boots on, and pulled on several shirts to mask his silhouette. This disguise would be sufficient for keeping his identity under wraps at night. He borrowed a car, and replaced the license plate. Val was getting taken care of tonight, Hodge didn't cross his fingers but he did take a deep settling breath.

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Magnus stood on the balcony and looked over his club. Bodies were rubbing against one another, the bar was packed, waitresses were running the gamut across the room, and his dancers were drawing eyes from every side of the crowd. Magnus was pleased. The liquor order was short, and something was off with the deposits, but Alec had said he would take a look so Magnus tried not to freak out too much about it.

Camille had made herself scarce again that day, just one more thing to worry about. He sighed trying to focus on the success below him. Music beat against him and he swayed his hips slightly with the music. He'd started out as a dancer in a club like this. It's how he met Isabelle.

Asmodeus had been furious when Magnus had said he wanted to do everything on his own. He didn't want his father's money, and he didn't want his father's influence. So he'd got a job in a nightclub, and gone to school during the day. He'd paid for it himself, and it would always be a point of pride for him. About 70% of his staff was in college, and if they weren't Magnus made sure that was their choice and there wasn't something keeping them from it. Working like that had been hard as hell, but he'd made some damn good friends and created a life for himself far removed from his gangster father.

Magnus was wearing red tonight. A silk shirt that shimmered under the club lights, red liner and black nails made him look a little more impressive than he felt. He'd needed the little boost to his esteem. His accountant had called him that morning with more bad news, and Magnus had to sit down on his bedroom floor. Because if something didn't change soon, he might have to go to his father and do the thing he said he'd never do. The amount that Magnus might need was a drop in the pond to Asmodeus, but Magnus couldn't shake the pain of failure from his shoulders.

Magnus cursed his own preoccupation and made his way down the stairs, focus he commanded himself. He'd do a quick perimeter check and then go huddle with the bartenders and bouncers to make sure all was well. He slipped out the side door employee entrance and made his way around to the front of the club.

Three men were coming out of the club, the light from the Pandemonium sign very briefly illuminated their face. The one in the middle looked familiar, but a name didn't come to mind. He watched them walk across the crowded parking lot, and as they reached the car another man stepped out of the drivers seat. They all headed for an SUV parked further away.

One of the men must have been really, really drunk, because two of the men were now supporting him, one on each side, and as Magnus watched they hefted him into the back seat of the SUV, keeping his head aloft as they did it. Well at least they were taking care of their drunk friend thought Magnus, he was in no condition to drive apparently, he'd passed smooth out. They'd been walking okay from the club to the car, but the alcohol must have hit him hard. Two of the men got into the SUV with their friend, the fourth one went back to the car and got in.

Damn if there wasn't something familiar about that one too. Magnus shook his head and checked the time on his phone, the light illuminating his face. He continued his perusal of the exterior of the club, making sure they weren't in violation of any city ordinances, and then quickly got back inside and checked in with his staff.

Hodge sat in his car eyes burning like coal as he watched Magnus walk back into the club. Where the hell had he come from? He hadn't seen him leave the club.

It was dark, details were hard to make out, a drunk man leaving a club with his buddies was nothing that didn't happen here every night. Magnus didn't know him, though Hodge knew him, but he may have seen Hodge about the place occasionally when speaking with Camille. He'd just turned into a loose end. There was blood in the parking lot if anyone cared to look, and Valentine had a gash across his throat, if Magnus had caught even a glimpse of Valentine's face, since the son of a bitch was a regular here, he could identify the body and potentially link it to tonight.

Meliorn knew he'd been looking for Valentine, but said he'd been working, if he went in now that alibi was off the table. He was going to trust his associates too dump the body, and he would have to set up another meeting. One he was not looking forward to.

He was going to have to call Camille. God fucking damn it.

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Alec winces, Pandemonium is packed wall to wall tonight. He stood for a minute letting his sense absorb the pounding beat of the music. The dancers in the cages above the dance floor were on fire, and Alec had a brief memory of Magnus dancing similarly years ago. He'd been good, hell he'd been the most fluid dancer Alec had ever seen. His body just seemed to know how to move to the music, like it was instinctive. Alec had always appreciated it, though no one ever knew that he'd sometimes go and watch. If Izzy ever found out, she'd never let him live it down. So he'd sat at the back of the club and drank while watching Magnus mesmerize a crowd.

Alec ducked passed several men and women that made eyes at him, he was on a mission at the moment. Maia saw him and he sighed in relief. "Please, please tell me you have something cold."

Maia laughed and had his beer out before he even sat down on the stool. "Like I wouldn't have your beer for you. Jace called me and said not to let you get into trouble."

Alec gaped. "I swear they're a bunch of old ladies in a damn knitting circle, gossiping like they have nothing freaking better to do."

"Well, to be fair they're all basically old and married. They have to live vicariously through you." Maia wiped down the bar in front of him.

"You have got to be joking, there is nothing about my life that someone might want to relive." Alec said morosely.

Maia looked at him questioningly, but before she could say anything, someone slid in next to him at the bar. "Hello sweetheart, let's dance." The man slid a hand down Alec's back and Alec controlled the knee jerk reaction to put an elbow in the man's face. Instead playing with his rainbow bracelet. He always wore it at the club, Izzy had gifted him with it a week after he came out in college. Now he rubbed it against his wrist to keep his temper in check.

He turned slightly shrugging the man's hand off, "No."

"Aw come on. You're.."

"No." Alec cut him off more fiercely.

"What's your name?" The man said even more persistent, and Alec was quickly losing his patience. He did come here to dance, but he'd be picking his partners and right now he wanted a drink and not to be bothered. Alec's look seemed to finally get through to him, because the man finally held his hands up and backed away.

Alec could smell the alcohol on him and rolled his eyes. He turned back to Maia. "Someone needs to cut him off. He's had too much."

Maia nodded her head gravely, "on it," she said, and walked over to her fellow bartender.

Alec took his drink and stepped away from the bar and headed towards the dance floor. He was standing waiting for the next song, when a familiar voice whispered in his ear "may I have this dance?"

Alec sighed. He'd chosen Pandemonium. He was flirting with danger. He knew he was. But damnit, he couldn't get Magnus out of his head. Magnus wasn't suitable, he wasn't at all Alec's type or what Alec was looking for, and it would only be a matter of time before Magnus realized just how boring Alec really was. Then he'd lose interest just like everyone else had, but would their friendly relationship survive it? Izzy would kill him if he did anything that pushed Magnus out of their lives. He was family.

This would be more than just a fling. No matter how lighthearted they tried to be about it. And Alec had finally accepted that Magnus was interested. What to do about it, was an altogether different problem.

He didn't resist when Magnus pulled him onto the dance floor. A part of him had always wanted to know what it would feel like to be pressed against him, to feel every sensuous movement his body made as it absorbed the music. Was it ironic that the DJ chose to play Dancing with a Stranger...probably not. Magnus wasn't a stranger, but the sentiment was….well...appropriate.

Magnus slid around him, that was the only word Alec really had for what Magnus was doing to him at the moment. Then he wrapped both arms around Alec's neck and pulled him close. "So worn any of the panties yet?"

Alec knew the lights in the club wouldn't show everything on his face, but he could feel the heat and Magnus didn't have to see it to know it was there. Magnus chuckled low, "Oh if you could see your face Angel." His arms tightened around Alec and he swung them in a circle forcing Alec to hold on to him. Somehow they ended up chest to chest, closer than they had been, hell closer than Alec let anyone else ever get to him. Magnus pushed his chest against Alec's and then shifted his hips so that his leg moved against Alec's and then slipped right between them.

Alec felt a rush of heat that caught him entirely unprepared. He was on fire, sweat dampened his shirt, and he was hard with the barest movement from Magnus. "Magnus.." his voice came out hoarse.

"Yes Angel." Magnus shifted his hips again, as if he wanted to hear nothing in the world but what Alec had to say next.

"Magnus." God he was melting, like a hormone obsessed 13 year old boy he could barely form a coherent thought. His feet were moving because Magnus was guiding them, following his movements, but Alec could feel his center of gravity shifting. "It's hot in here."

Magnus laid his head on Alec's shoulder his breath tickling Alec's ear when he said, "I think it's perfect."

Well if he liked fucking sauna's thought Alec. But neither one of them pulled away, even though Alec was sure Magnus could feel the dampness of his shirt. It felt damn good to lie against him, their bodies just seemed to fit together. He liked it more than he should. The warmth of Magnus' arms around him should be uncomfortable, but all Alec could focus on was the definition of his arms. How damn sexy it was that the sleeves of his shirt conformed to the muscles so very tightly. Magnus very very slowly turned his body around so his back was to Alec's chest. He pulled Alec's arm across his stomach and rolled his hips. Alec inhaled the sandalwood sent of him and lost all reason. God he wanted to rub every inch of his body against Magnus. He brought his free hand up to grip Magnus' waist and jerk him back more snugly against him.

Magnus leaned his head back against Alec's shoulder and then just let their bodies move to the music. What song was even playing anymore? How long had they been out here?

"What's wrong?" Magnus said softly in his ear as he turned his head.

"Not one thing." Alec said softly into Magnus' neck.

"You tensed up."

"Magnus. Shut up and dance."

Magnus giggled, but he shut his mouth and they danced. No more words were said, they just moved to the music sinking further and further into one another. Alec gathered Magnus as close as he could, not really caring if Magnus could feel more than his belt buckle against his back. Then the DJ broke the rhythm with some song that neither one of them were feeling.

Magnus pulled slowly out of Alec's arms and grabbed his hand. Making their way to the bar, he asked if Alec wanted anything to drink. "Sprite." Magnus grinned at him, but went around behind the bar to grab the requested drink.

Alec ran a hand through his hair, if there had been a style when he left the house, it was long gone. He turned around on the bar stool to look over the club. Everything in Alec's brain was moving a little slower than the action in the club. He'd told Luke he'd look out for any suspicious activity while he was out, but Magnus had absorbed every morsel of his attention. Alec could barely focus now, and the man wasn't even near him.

"Wanna dance?"

A cute little brunette asked him. He was standing right in front of Alec. He was wearing a Stud Muffin shirt, and Alec smiled at him, but didn't get the chance to turn the kid down before Magnus appeared out of thin air with a raised brow. "He's not available kid."

"Okay." The guy said cheerfully, and wandered away.

Magnus jerked his head to the back indicating the VIP section. It was raised and gave an incredibly good view of the club so Alec nodded in assent and followed Magnus to the back. Alec had shaken off the daze Magnus put him in and started working the crowd. He saw a couple potentials. Oddly enough a woman to the back, dark hair, olive skin, dark eyes was setting off his senses. Something about her. He shrugged it off but noted her face.

"You're working now aren't you?" Magnus asked a moment after they sat down. Alec startled and shot a quick glance at him.

"This is NYPD territory technically."

"I know, but you're still observing. Jace and Clary do it too."

"It's habit."

Magnus smiled softly. "What's with the constant vigilance though? Even Clary and Jace relax."

Alec shrugged. "I mean I will when I get home."

Magnus' eyes lit up. "Oh how did that go by the way? Moving in and everything." He clarified.

Alec smiled a genuine smile. "I was really apprehensive about it, I've always had a roommate, but I have to say the idea of it grew on me. Moving in went well, I managed to get most of the stuff I needed for the place. Now that it's all kind of sorted, I need to set some time aside to come over here and take a look at things for you."

Magnus frowned. And Alec picked up on it easily. "What is it Magnus?"

"I don't think you should come here. If Camille were actually here tonight I wouldn't even have approached you."

"It's that bad?" Alec cursed himself for not going over the case files. He'd just been so damned busy. He swore he'd do it tomorrow before Magnus' party for Isabelle.

"Yeah it's that bad. Monday, I'll come by your office. That sound okay?" Magnus asked hesitantly.

Alec realized there was still a part of him that thought Alec wouldn't help him. "Of course Magnus. I'll take care of it." Alec took a drink of his sprite and continued to clock the crowd. That dark haired woman damn it. Did he know her?

"Oh are you coming to the party Saturday?" Magnus asked.

Alec raised a brow. "Do I have a choice?"

Magnus played offended. "Have I ever made you come to one of my parties?"

"No you just get Clary to cry at me, or Jace to manipulate me with my parents, or Izzy to threaten me; so i repeat, do I have a choice?" Alec leaned closer to Magnus so their shoulders were touching.

"Honestly darling, no you don't have a choice." Magnus grinned at him. And Alec had to admit, it looked good on him. So did the eye liner, it made his face shine and his eyes mesmerized Alec. He leaned closer, suddenly consumed by the need to kiss Magnus.

Magnus' eyes drifted down to Alec's lips. Bingo he thought. Then a loud crash startled the both of them and they jolted backwards. A woman in the crowd screamed. The DJ cut the music and then a glass shattered, Alec watched two men charge toward one another on the dance floor.

"Aw shit," Alec heaved a sigh and he and Magnus rose from the couch they were on, "Here we go again."

"Come on we'll go to my office. Maia's on the phone with the police now." Magnus rolled his eyes. "And the night was going so well, I'm beginning to think you're bad luck."

"Not my fault." Alec mumbled. "I was sitting with you."

"Yeah but, you've been here on your own twice and both times things get crazy. Believe it or not there's usually no trouble, the universe doesn't like you here." Alec grumbled at him some more but followed him obediently to his office. A little irritated that the opportunity to kiss Magnus was lost. He glared at every person they passed.


	6. Chapter 6

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Alec watched Magnus go over to the drink bar in his office to make them drinks, both of them needing something to do with their hands after the intensity of the moment down stairs. The couch had some papers piled up next to a laptop, so Alec picked them up and briefly looked at them. Then did a double take.

"Magnus." Alec's voice came out frosty, he couldn't help it.

Magnus hummed acknowledging Alec but not turning, fully absorbed in mixing the drinks.

"What in the hell is this?" He snapped to get Magnus' attention, then clenched his jaw in an effort to keep from yelling.

Magnus turned from his drinks with wide eyes and some hesitancy. "Um, what is what?"

Alec waved the papers. "The report from your security system that shows your apartment was broken into." Alec all but growled as he slapped his hand against the table.

"To be fair," Magnus said, "it doesn't actually have anything to do with...any of this." he waved his hand around the office.

"And you know that how?"

"It's happened before." Magnus said with shrug. "Nothing was taken."

"Did you report it?" Alec snapped.

"I promise there's nothing to worry about." Magnus said placatingly, holding his hands out in a soothing gesture. Alec noted he didn't actually answer the question.

Alec paced going over the reports. "Magnus there were signs of forced entry." Alec shook the papers.

Magnus rolled his eyes, "Camille is the larger concern…"

Alec cut him off. "Fuck Camille. You could have walked in on them breaking into your place. Your actual life could be in danger, and you didn't bother to tell anyone!" Alec shoved a hand through his hair. He drew in a deep breath, struggling for his control. Squeezing his hands into fists and then rubbing the space between his thumb and forefinger trying to create enough pressure in his hands to release the anger inside of him.

"Alec, it's on record, but it's not that serious." Magnus said calmly.

Alec put his hands on his hips and glowered. "How do you know that if you didn't report it. And before you say you did, you know damn well Jace would have told me if you had."

Magnus sighed and came closer to Alec. "There's really no point in reporting it."

Alec stood there frozen, the sound of the club emptying out could still be heard outside the big glass window in the office. The bright club lights would occasionally flash across Magnus' face. "What?" He finally said through his clenched jaw, unable to form a coherent response to what he was hearing.

"Seriously, I promise if there were a need I would have filed a report. It's not that big of a deal."

There was another long moment of silence, then Alec stepped forward so he towered over Magnus. "Monday morning you will be reporting it." Alec commanded, leaving absolutely no room for argument. Magnus' eyes went wide.

"You're mad." Magnus put his hand on Alec's chest with a kind of patting motion, and Alec just glowered. "I mean seriously mad." Magnus said quietly, the blue lights from the club illuminating his face as he looked up at Alec.

Alec walked forward until Magnus started to back up, he kept going until Magnus ran into his desk. "I'm fucking furious with you right now. So I have two choices," he shifted his voice to a more conversational tone. "I can either murder you, or I can kiss you. Dealer's choice." Alec said as he placed his hands on Magnus' desk bracketing him in.

Magnus threw his head back and laughed completely startled, then a wicked grin lit up his face and Alec was briefly mesmerized by just how gorgeous he was. "Why Mr. Lightwood, I would think a man such as yourself would be able to control himself." Magnus said teasingly.

Alec licked his lips and watched Magnus follow the movement, "You really shouldn't have worn all this red then."

"There is nothing….uummph."

The rest of his response was smothered by Alec's mouth. Magnus went very still, and Alec used that to gather Magnus closer to him. He'd thought about this more than once as long as he'd known Magnus, and he was struggling to adjust his expectations with reality. He'd never really thought this could happen, yet here he was wrapped around Magnus Bane and it was the most amazing thing he'd ever felt.

Magnus' lips were soft and tasted like vanilla, Alec could taste the drink Magnus had earlier and something else….something spicy. Alec raised his hand and wrapped it around the back of Magnus' neck and gripped tightly, tilting his head back while he very deliberately deepened the kiss. Magnus' lithe body melted into him and accepted the invasion. His tongue in Magnus mouth, and the vanilla spice taste of him made Alec's knees weak.

He shifted his arms around Magnus, creating more pressure between them, vaguely he was aware that nothing in his life had ever felt this good, or as comfortable. Should he have been comfortable? Hell the last word he'd use to describe Magnus was comfortable, but his body fit so perfectly against Alec that all the tension he'd felt earlier drifted away.

The Club lights flashed brightly and Alec pulled back just a little, long enough to see Magnus heavy lidded eyes; then he kissed him again, more deep hungry kisses. He wanted to devour every single bit of Magnus he could get his hands on. A part of him could barely believe he was standing here in Magnus' club kissing the hell out of him. Alec slipped the hand on the back of Magnus neck down to the open collar of his shirt and stroked his fingers across Magnus' collar bone. Magnus retaliated by slipping his hands under Alec's shirt and stroking the muscles of his back. Alec was almost dizzy from the sensations.

He pulled back, lifting his mouth and gasping for breath. Magnus clung to him, a sad kitten look on his face, and Alec dipped down for one more close mouthed kiss. Alec pulled back again, and Magnus' put his palms on Alec's face. "Alexander Gideon Lightwood," He murmured, "I really wanna get naked with you."

Less than 24 hours ago, Alec would have told him in no uncertain terms that he could fuck off. 20 minutes ago he'd had no idea he was addicted to the taste of Magnus Bane. "This is not how this was supposed to go." He said, a little distractedly. No wonder Magnus had a string of lovers that could wind around the block...twice. The thought of that put a fire in Alec's belly and he tightened his hold on Magnus.

"Darling I thought it went spectacularly."

"This is ridiculous."

"But hot as hell."

"Magnus, you are not my type at all, and I'm hardly your type either."

"Well thank god for that, we'd never survive otherwise." Magnus lifted up and came in for another kiss, one that had Alec straining to get Magnus as close as possible. He wrapped his arms around him and felt Magnus' hands glide down and grip his ass. The sensation splintered through him, making him moan in Magnus' ear. He pulled back from the kiss and put his hands on Magnus' chest. Damn, he was firm, Alec knew that objectively he knew that Magnus was in shape, but god he wanted to lift the red shirt off of him and get his hands….

Every inch of him was in agony, he took a step back, putting some distance between them. Suddenly deprived of Magnus' heat, the office turned cold. "You…" He pointed at Magnus and then ran a hand across his face, "are ruining my plans."

Magnus licked his lips. "Is that right darling." Magnus followed him and tilted his head to the side kissing the side of Alec's neck. Little biting kisses to his jaw, as if he just needed another taste. He kept his hands to himself, and Alec had to stop himself from jerking him closer.

"I want a man."

"I'm most definitely a man." Magnus said as he let his tongue brush against Alec's skin. "What's wrong with me?"

Alec's neck was weak, it had always been a sensitive spot. "God Magnus, I mean a relationship, I want one of those."

"I'm single."

Alec snapped out, "I want to get married, move in together, and…" he cut off as Magnus jerked back.

"Husband hunting huh."

Alec glared. "Yes, and you're getting in my way."

"Oh Angel…" Magnus said with a smile.

"You don't have to say anything. I just don't think this is the smartest idea since we have different expectations." Alec said responsibly.

Magnus rolled his eyes, but stepped back another step. "Well nothing says we have to decide the rest of our lives tonight."

Alec looked away and his eyes fell on the papers by the couch again. "I was dead serious about reporting the break in. Monday. I mean it."

Magnus smiled at him, "As you command Mr. Lightwood. Now c'mon. Lets get you out of here before you turn into a pumpkin and I try to kiss you again." With his hand at Alec's back he led him toward the door.

"Oh what time should I be at Jace's tomorrow?" Alec asked with a slight turn of his head.

"Two should be fine." Magnus said, and Alec could smell sandalwood and vanilla. His heart skipped a beat and he licked his lips, and his body went tight leaning further back into Magnus' hand.

"Alexander" Magnus said with warning. And Alec pushed himself forward. He was about to turn, when Magnus said with a harsh growl "Go!", and with a slight push. Alec went. The door shut softly behind him and he headed down the stairs with a sigh.

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Alec woke up the next morning and got dressed. He had awhile before he had to be ready for the party that afternoon, so he made his coffee and opened his work laptop. It was time to start reviewing what the FBI had on Camille.

Hours later, two cups of coffee, an entire pad of notes and a righteous anger fueling him, Alec knew he shouldn't wait until Monday to sort out what the hell was going on at the club. His fellow agents had a hell of a lot of information, but no hard proof. They wouldn't be able to get it either if something didn't change. Sex trafficking made him sick to his stomach, the embezzlement was shitty, but if she was really part of the buying and selling of people he wanted to nail her to the wall. He briefly felt bad for Magnus, but he'd never like Camille she'd always rubbed him the wrong way.

Thoughts drifting to Magnus, Alec looked at the clock and cursed. He showered and was standing in front of his dresser towel drying when he opened his drawer to grab boxers when his hand brushed against some of the underwear he'd bought with Magnus. Shaking his head at his own hesitation, he jerked a pair out and put them on. They were soft. Softer than anything he'd ever owned, a little tighter than he was used to, but nothing was really that different.

Until he turned.

Seeing himself in the mirror made his eyes go wide, his breath panted out and he crossed his arms over his chest defensively. They looked…..he looked...they made him feel...Alec ran a hand through his wet hair. Damn if Lydia hadn't been right, he felt sexy. In a way that he never did. Was this how Magnus felt all the time with his make-up, bright colors, and his style. Did he just walk around feeling like this every day? Alec quickly turned so he couldn't see himself and pulled on his pants. Jerking a shirt over his head, he turned back to the mirror and it was like now that he knew he had the black silk panties on he couldn't get it out of his head.

Backing out of his room he shook his head at his own ridiculousness and grabbed his stuff to head over to Jace's. As soon as he was through the door, Jace had an arm around his shoulder and a beer in his hand. "Man, I'm glad to see you!"

Well he'd had more than a few already Alec thought amused. "You too buddy."

Jace leaned into his ear, "Man, I was gonna tell you later but I can't not tell you now...I'm gonna ask Clary to marry me."

Alec went very still, then he turned them both and shoved Jace into his old room. "When?" He asked excitedly.

"I got most of it set up with Isabelle yesterday. But I'm asking her Sunday."

Alec threw his arms around Jace. "Congratulations! I'm happy for you man."

"She still has to say yes." Jace said a little worriedly.

Alec rolled his eyes, "No worries you idiot, she's put up with you this long, I think you're good." Alec and Jace went back out and joined the party. He saw Magnus several times, before he actually found Izzy and congratulated her on her promotion. Letting others drag his sister away, Alec quickly got bored. He sat on the loveseat drinking his beer and settled back. No one would actually mind if he took a nap. Before he could actually drift a warm body dropped onto him and snuggled up to his side. Alec didn't have to open his eyes to know it was Magnus, he smelled him.

"What are you doing over here?" Magnus whispered in his ear.

Alec knew what he was doing. He wasn't an idiot. "I was about to take a nap." Magnus waved to several people they knew, and Alec saw Izzy and Clary giggling in the corning watching them.

"Magnus.."Alec said lowly, his patience on a fine tether. Magnus' all but draped across someone wouldn't usually be that noteworthy, but it was Alec he was draped across. Alec could feel everyone staring at them. Knowing that Magnus wanted him just as much as he wanted Magnus was one thing; declaring it seriously in front of their friends and family that there was something there was an entirely different thing.

Magnus turned his face so that he was staring at him contemplatively. They hadn't done more than kissing and light petting the night before, but Alec could still feel the burn of Magnus touch on his skin.

Magnus sighed and started speaking softly. "Alec I know what you said and I hear you, but this is going to happen. I think we both see that." He took a deep fortifying breath. "I won't make you think for a second you're something for me to hide, and I won't be something you consider shameful." Magnus was running his finger along Alec's neck as he spoke his brow creased with worry. "Nothing has to come of it, but I wasn't about to start out in the shadows."

Alec really needed to find out just what the hell had happened with Camille. Clary had given him the highlights, but Magnus wasn't doing this out of a moral obligation. He was protecting himself. Whatever the hell she'd done, Magnus was carrying the scars from it. "Okay. You're right. I wish you'd talked to me about it first, but I'm relieved you don't want to hide this or me if anything happens." Ignoring Magnus' soft smile, Alec slid his arm across the back of the couch and shifted Magnus so that he was settled against him a little more comfortably.

Magnus kept sneaking glances at him, almost as if he couldn't help it. He'd dressed himself to the literal nines for this party. He was mostly in black: Pants, boots, tank top, but the purple velvet jacket made him look like his normal wicked self. He had on several layers of necklaces, and winged purple eyeshadow. Alec was stealing his own glances. He'd been around Magnus for years, so he'd been stealing glances for years, and having him this close was a little overwhelming.

All he had to do was sit there and Alec was seduced. Magnus put his hand on Alec's leg as he turned to answer a question from a party guest. He moved his hand and the backs of his fingers subtly rubbed against Alec's thigh. Alec swallowed. He had no idea he was that sensitive. Magnus wasn't doing much, just lightly rubbing against him, but he didn't really have to. Alec was helping him along by continuously reminding himself of the night before.

A part of Alec thought he was blowing it out of proportion. It was just because he'd been thinking about if for so long, there was no way the kisses had been that good. They'd just gone a little overboard. It was so new. It wouldn't be like that next time, he tried to convince himself. Several more people stopped by and Alec watched the guest begin to trickle out. Alec stood and Magnus rose behind him, they both headed towards the kitchen. Several people stopped Magnus to compliment him on the party and make small talk. Alec stayed by his side, and knew he was reinforcing the subtle (or not so subtle) declaration from Magnus that they were together.

"Let's get out of here." Magnus whispered in his ear after shaking one more guys hand. Alec followed Magnus out of the apartment and into the chilly air of New York. He breathed out and watched his breath puff up in a cloud. Magnus shoved his hands in his pocket and pulled out his phone. "Did you drive?"

"Nah took a cab."

Magnus smiled, "Come on, follow me." He pulled Alec in the direction of his car.

"Where are we going?" Alec asked confused.

"Your place."

Alec's heart jumped. "I'm meeting Jace and Izzy for dinner later."

"Cancel. You've got things to do."

"And is one of those things you?" Alec didn't even try to hide his exasperation with Magnus' pushiness.

Magnus shot him a cheeky grin, "That's the idea."

"Magnus I was serious about a relationship, I don't want an affair."

Magnus stopped and looked up at Alec, "So until you find what you're looking for, have an affair with me. I'm normal, nothing super kinky unless you're into it, and I won't embarrass you in front of your family." He shrugged.

Alec hesitated and Magnus took his hand, "C'mon, let me show you."

Alec relented and let Magnus pull him to his car. Alec couldn't help but feel like he was backsliding into old Alec. One night stands and nothing to show for it. Alec shot off a quick text to Jace and his brother sent back a string of emojis that Alec didn't even bother to look at. Knowing his brother it would be a series of peaches and eggplants. Magnus pulled into Alec's drive way, and they walked into the house.

"Are you hungry?" Magnus asked.

Alec shook his head.

"Good," he said, and then he reached for Alec's jacket and pushed it to the floor.

Alec had almost convinced himself he'd overreacted the night before, until Magnus' mouth was on him again. What an idiot he thought as he wrapped his arms around Magnus pulling him closer. Alec felt fire flow through him, and he got hard almost instantly, his knees weak. Oh god, he felt so good. Alec's body was throbbing from the contact, and Magnus very clever hands were shedding their clothes while Alec was lost in the sensation of touch. Totally pliable, he moved exactly where Magnus wanted him.

This was passion, it was desire and heat. Alec hadn't ever felt anything like it before. Desperation maybe, but nothing to match what Magnus kindled inside of him. Alec moaned when Magnus nipped at his neck, sucking marks and soothing them in turn, scraping the tendons with his teeth and sucking marks into Alec's sensitive skin. Alec got with the program and pushed Magnus' jacket off of his shoulders, his hands following the path and caressing the dips and curves of Magnus' arms. Magnus pushed Alec's shirt up and over his head, and Alec brought his mouth down for another kiss. Gasping with pleasure as Magnus stroked his hands down his back.

Alec was desperate to have them skin to skin so he jerked back and pulled at Magnus' tank top. Magnus grinned at him and whipped it over his head, throwing his arms around Alec's neck and pressing their chests together.

"You feel fucking amazing." Magnus whispered wetly in his ear, biting his lobe and causing Alec to shiver.

"So do you." Alec pushed his hands inside Magnus pants, gripping his ass and making sure not one inch of space was between them. Magnus wasn't wearing underwear, which reminded him that he was. Alec bit Magnus shoulder and followed the bite with a lick, Magnus moaned in his ear and Alec grinned.

"Bedroom. Now." Magnus growled in his ear.

"No." Alec said fiercely and dropped to his knees in front of Magnus looking up at his wide eyes with a determined glint. "I want you here."

Magnus arched his brow and cupped Alec's cheek affectionately. "Whatever you want Angel."

Alec didn't waste another breath, he unbuttoned Magnus' pants and pulled them down just far enough to pull Magnus out and get his hands on him. He was thick, thick and so hard. Magnus had a condom unwrapped and over his length before Alec could blink, then his hands were stroking through Alec's hair soothingly. Alec put everything out of his mind and sank into the pleasure of giving Magnus pleasure. He used his hands and his mouth to make Magnus tremble.

He had nothing to brace himself against but Alec's shoulders, so Magnus was half bent clinging to Alec when Alec swallowed him whole. Magnus let out a shout and thrust inside Alec's mouth nearly choking him, but experience had him hold Magnus steady as he got control of himself.

It got sloppy quick and Alec had Magnus dick coated enough that he could use the general mess of it to assist with jacking Magnus at the base. His own dick was pressing hard against his underwear and he pressed a hand against it to apply pressure. He moved over Magnus, his head bobbing up and down, taking breaths on the back stroke. Licking and kissing the head gave him a chance to watch Magnus glazed over eyes, and pleasure slackened face. God he was beautiful. Alec swiped a tongue over Magnus balls and grinned when he raised his hands again to clench fist fulls of Alec's hair.

Magnus started making increasingly more desperate sounds as Alec applied himself more thoroughly, gasping when Alec would hit just the right spot. His fists tightened in Alec's hair causing him to moan with pleasure, and just like that Magnus was trying to pull back, but Alec wouldn't let him. "C'mon Alexander, I'm close."

"I know." He said, "I want it."

"I want you…" Alec cut him off. "Later." And that was apparently all Magnus needed. Magnus' stomach started to flex, his body going taught, and Alec gently stroked him through his release with his hands and his tongue, as Magnus collapsed around him Alec grinned a happy little grin. Alec slowly lowered him to the floor and they wrapped themselves around one another. They couldn't seem to do anything but cling to one another as the tremors of Magnus orgasm settled down. Magic thought Alec, that's what Magnus had felt like. Pure magic under his hands.

"Bedroom now?" Magnus asked softly from where he was snuggled against Alec causing him to chuckle and say "yeah" quietly into Magnus' hair.


	7. Chapter 7

Camille smiled beatifically at the man clearing the leaves from her manicured lawn. Valentine had been a thorn in her side, but if all went well she'd be receiving a call from Hodge any moment now that the problem was in fact solved. That was a huge relief because she couldn't wait to be out from under Asmodeus. Soon she thought as she licked her lips when the gardener looked over at her. He would be a nice afternoon distraction.

Her cell lit up with an unknown number and she was giddy that it might be Hodge, so she answered it.

"We have a problem." Came his soft voice.

What the actual fuck she thought, staying silent. Sometimes silence was an incredibly powerful weapon.

"Magnus saw it go down."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Camille didn't throw her drink, but it was a very near thing. "What exactly happened?" Hodge was at least efficient, because he broke down the events quickly. "And you're sure he can ID you?"

"No, but he did see it. If he thinks about it or something triggers him, he might figure out what he saw."

"Goddamn it." She said furiously.

"Do I need to take care of it?"

"Do you know who he is?" She asked with venom dropping from every word. "You are talking about taking care of Asmodeus' son, you actual stupid fucking idiot."

She heard Hodge groan. "You seriously didn't know?"

"No why would I know that?" He growled through the phone. "What the fuck do we do?"

Camille wasn't panicking yet, she needed to think. "It's not like anyone is going to miss Valentine. If the body isn't found, we're fine. If it turns up we're fucked. So just sit tight, we need an exit strategy that doesn't involve a bullet between Magnus' eyes, but if that's the choice we have to make, so be it. Meet at mine and we'll work something out." Camille hung up without waiting for a response and immediately went to her computer. She needed to start moving her cash.

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* * *

Magnus took a deep breath and stared at the beautiful man beside him and grinned. He stood up and grabbed his hands pulling him towards the bedroom. Alec laughed at him when he tried to pull him into the bathroom, too busy staring to watch where he was going. Magnus kissed him to shut him up.

"It's back here." Alec said with a small grin and a nip at Magnus' lip. Alec turned and Magnus watched the rippling muscle with a kind of obscene delight.

"Lead the way." Magnus slid his hand in the back pocket of Alec's pants and squeezed. Alec laughed and grabbed his hand, spinning around trapping Magnus' hands in his grip.

Magnus leaned up and kissed him again, pushing his hands up to put them on Alec's neck. He just needed to be wrapped around this man forever. He hadn't felt this way, ever. Even as a teenager he'd never been this clumsy and excited with anyone. Alec laughed into the kiss, and Magnus pulled back to kiss Alec on his cute nose.

Alec stopped in the hall and wrapped his arms around Magnus' waist. "We're never going to make it if you don't behave." He ran his lips across Magnus' jaw, and Magnus sighed blissfully his heart beat pounding in his ears.

They stumbled back into the bedroom and Magnus wasted no time stripping off his pants. Alec was backed nearly all the way up to the bed, but he stopped him. He desperately wanted to get his hands on Alec and he didn't want jeans between them. Magnus dropped to his knees and looked up at Alec, "my turn" he said with a salacious wink.

Magnus slipped the button of Alec's pants free and sucked in a breath. "Oh Angel, fuck." Magnus put his mouth on Alec immediately, slipping his tongue under the waistband of the silk panties sliding his fingers into the jeans and slowly pushing them down Alec's legs, desperate to see just how glorious he was going to look when Magnus shifted back.

He looked up and Alec's eyes were a little apprehensive. Magnus was not about to have that. "You are fucking gorgeous." Alec's skin was pale, and the black panties looked wicked against his skin, Magnus was so hard he had to put his cheek on Alec's stomach to catch his breath and calm down. Then he moved his face down and sucked Alec through the silk panties. He ran his tongue back and forth until the black silk had a visible wet spot, Alec's moans above him were stuttered. Like he didn't expect to enjoy the sensation, and he was surprised by every sound he made. That was just tragic, the very first chance Magnus got he would be purchasing the pink ruffles Alec had teased him with.

"Magnus…"Alec whispered as he ran his fingers through Magnus' hair. Magnus put his mouth on his skin and sucked a mark just above the lace band, then he shoved and Alec fell back on the bed with a surprised sound. Magnus couldn't help the feral look that came over his face, Alec was sprawled on the bed his legs slightly parted, defined chest bare, lips slick and eyes glazed over. Magnus crawled up on the bed, "Anything you object to darling?" He asked as he sucked biting kisses up Alec's thighs.

Alec shook his head vigorously. "No, anything you want."

Magnus frowned a little at the statement, they'd be talking about that later, Alec should be more careful with how he phrased that. Not that Magnus wanted anything too kinky, but the last thing he wanted was for Alexander to be uncomfortable. "Can you turn over for me?" Alec nodded eagerly, and rolled over between Magnus' arms.

Magnus groaned. The fucking panties only covered the upper half of his cheeks. Gorgeous, he was so damn gorgeous. "Spread your legs for me." Magnus put his knees between Alec's legs and slid down. Placing his right arm across Alec's lower back, he used his other hand to slide just under the line of the panties. Alec moaned under him and Magnus grinned, slipping his finger a little further in he stroked down Alec's crease. He twisted under him.

"Magnus…" He said desperately. Magnus leaned down and licked the line of his panties across his cheeks. "Stop teasing me."

"Oh darling I've only just got started." Magnus said firmly. He regretfully pulled the panties down, and ran his hands over Alec's exposed cheeks. He shifted until he was comfortable, and then with hardly any warning opened Alec up and licked his exposed hole. Alec shouted under him and jerked.

"Fuck Magnus." Magnus smiled and just continued eating him out, god he'd imagined this so many times. He squeezed Alec's cheeks and pushed until Alec lifted himself up on his knees. Magnus jerked the panties the rest of the way off, and sucked a mark on Alec's left cheek. Teasing the mark with his tongue he gently stroked Alec's thighs and then shifted until he could get Alec's length into his mouth. Alec fell forward on a moan, raising his arms over his head and spreading his legs wider trying to get more.

Magnus took his time, he had every intention of basking in the taste and feel of Alexander against him. Alec was like warm honey, smooth sensuous and addictive. Magnus could feel him getting close, but he didn't want him to come just yet, so he backed off and slapped Alec's thigh.

Alec twisted up until he was looking back at Magnus, pulling his leg up and exposing himself to Magnus. Magnus ran a hand over his thigh and stared up into heavy lidded beautiful eyes, watching him as he bit down on Alec's cheek. Alec groaned and his head fell back down as he pushed back into Magnus. He ran a hand down Alec's leg, marveling at their length and lean hard muscle. Magnus wanted them wrapped around him. Now.

"Turn over for me darling." Alec moaned and very slowly rolled over on the bed. Magnus settled between his thighs and leaned down to capture his mouth in another drugging kiss. "Is this okay? Would you rather not…"

Alec cut him off by pulling him back into another hard kiss, "Like this Magnus, it's perfect like this." He'd always heard that making love to someone was different than just regular sex, and he'd always thought that was asinine. Sex was sex and love was love, but looking into Alexander's eyes Magnus genuinely felt something shift inside of him, open up like nothing he'd ever felt. Taking care of this man had just become priority number one, and he didn't ever want to do anything else.

He'd never felt such a strong desire to protect anyone in his life. Not even Camille. He had loved her, but it was nothing compared to what was ripping through him right now. And it terrified him. He dropped his head until it rested on Alec's chest, and breathed in the warm scent of him while trying to come to terms with just how fundamentally his life was about to be altered.

Alec ran a soothing hand across his head, almost as if he could feel what Magnus was feeling and needed the comforting soothing touch to ground him. Magnus pressed a kiss to his chest and pulled back. He wasn't stopping, not for hell, not for anything. "Lube," he rasped out.

Alec pulled it from under the pillow and pushed it into Magnus' hands, he also very quickly put a condom on Magnus and rolled the one he had on off tossing it somewhere. Magnus probably over did it, but he desperately needed Alec to feel good. So he poured lube on Alec and some on himself and used his fingers to stretch and prepare Alec.

He had no way of knowing how long he spent using his fingers to drive Alec crazy, but he'd apparently had enough because he wrapped his legs around Magnus and jerked him forward with a snarl he all but shouted, "Magnus I swear to god if you don't.."

"So impatient." Magnus said with a wicked grin and when he felt Alec was ready he slowly entered him.

There were no fireworks. No chorus of angels. But nevertheless, Magnus was rocked down to his soul. Alec was perfect, he was warm tight and his body just fit in all the right places. Magnus slowly pulled out and pushed back in, Alec's eyes slipped closed as he let out a breathy moan. Magnus needed that sound like he needed to breathe, so he very quickly found the rhythm that would ensure he could hear that sound over and over.

Grasping Alec's legs he draped them over his shoulders and looking down into his beautiful eyes, Magnus let himself go. Alec was trembling, his body was on fire, and Magnus could feel the heat of their bodies dampening their skin. Then it was like something came over him, because he surged up and grabbed Magnus around the neck…."need you." He gasped out between thrusts.

"Need what darling?" Magnus asked in his ear.

"Just need you, need you so much, please…" He begged so prettily in Magnus' ear that Magnus lost any sense of control he may have had and began to pound into Alexander. He was so tight, and with every sound that came out of him Magnus got closer.

"I'm close Alexander." Magnus gasped on a hard thrust.

Alec's body began to shake and then he went taught, cum dribbled down his length and fell across his stomach. "Now Magnus, now…."

Magnus slammed into Alec one final time and felt the burn of release pour from him. He pulled out then collapsed on top of Alec panting burrowing their bodies closer. Alec shifted Magnus to his side, and Magnus panicked for a moment that he was going to get up, but Alec only removed the condom and tossed it in the trash while jerking the sheet up around them.

Alec kissed his forehead and Magnus grinned, looking up at him in the warm afternoon light. "I have no idea why Lydia was encouraging you to buy panties, but truly...you are a gift."

Alec snuggled down closer until Magnus could feel his breath on his face. "Well I guess her plan worked. In a way. It got me in your pants."

Magnus kissed Alec's chin, "what plan?"

"She's a matchmaker." Alec said in a very snarky way. "I mean why did you think I was talking to her?"

Magnus furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

"Her job Magnus, she's a certified Matchmaker."

"No she's a vice cop." He said as he stroked a hand down Alec's chest, just needing to touch him as much as he could.

"What are you talking about, of course she is, she told Jace and everyone really." Alec said confused.

"If it's the same Lydia we've known since college then no, she is very much an officer of the law and she is very much an officer that sics her colleagues on me over prostitution in my club. I cannot for the life of me get her to understand that prostitutes like to have fun too, and no one buys sex on my dance floors." Magnus frowned as Alec's face went through a litany of funny expressions.

"She has business cards, why would she pretend..." Alec said and Magnus could tell he was deep in his thoughts and barely paying attention.

"Maybe she's undercover." Magnus shrugged.

Alec made a dismissive tone, "I guess it doesn't matter, it's just weird. Why wouldn't she just tell me? Why hide it from me? And why the hell don't Jace and Clary know she's vice. They all work for the NYPD." Magnus could tell as much as he wanted to let it go, Alec was having trouble processing. And well, Magnus didn't want him feeling anything but relaxed, so he pulled Alec down into a hard kiss.

"You're just trying to distract me."

"Is it working."

"Yeah, yeah it really is." Magnus laughed when Alec rolled over on top of him and continued his intoxicating kisses. Magnus pulled a condom from the table beside the bed and Alec grinned at him nodding, "my turn." Magnus chuckled and they surged together fiercely, demanding everything from one another.

Afterward, exhausted, Magnus dozed cuddled into Alec's side and Alec stared at the ceiling of his new place and wondered what the ever loving hell Lydia was up to. There was something scratching under his skin that made him feel anxious and he didn't like it worth a damn. Especially because it was all centered around Magnus. That woman at Pandemonium the other night, he didn't personally know her, but she was a cop. Lydia pushing him at Pandemonium. Camille's embezzlement. Hell he didn't know that it was connected, but it was suspicious as hell.

Magnus snuffled beside him and he gazed at him fondly. Magnus wasn't what he thought he wanted. in fact he was the furthest thing from it, but just the thought of letting Magnus go was putting a burning knot in his stomach. In fact, the thought of him showing this side of himself to anyone, him finding someone else, sent a wave of pure possessiveness through Alec. Shocking him because he'd never felt this way about anyone before. He wanted Magnus to belong to him, for them to belong to each other. But how could he, boring ass Alec Lightwood, hope to keep Magnus interested. Once the initial attraction and passion subsided, would Magnus actually stay?

He knew he was in deep trouble when the thought of Magnus walking away made him ache. He stroked Magnus' bare back and hoped like hell he could figure out what the hell he was doing, because all signs were pointing to him being invested, and Alec couldn't tell if Magnus felt the same. And hell even if he did, if that would be enough to get him to stay.

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* * *

The 13 year old boy looked up from his switch and peered at the old junky car. His grandpa had made him come fishing, but he'd nearly thrown up when they started cutting the fish open so he'd told him to take a walk. Jordan knew his grandpa knew he didn't really like all the hunting and animal killing stuff, but he did like hanging out with him so he didn't mind so much that Jordan got queasy at the sight of blood and guts stuff.

They'd never been to his area of New York before, it was about an hour outside the city and had a nice field with woods lining it. He saw a junky old car just over a hill and decided to go take a look. Jordan stepped over brambles and broken branches that were growing up around the car. He kept an eye out for snakes, he might not like outdoors stuff, but he wasn't stupid.

As he reached out to open the car door, the smell caught his attention and he knew without even looking that something inside was dead. He didn't want to look, he didn't want to see, but what if he could help? What if it was still a little bit alive?

Jordan put his hoodie sleeve over his mouth and tried not to breath too deeply, as he leaned closer to the car and looked in. The dust was hard to see through, so it took a minute for his eyes to focus, when they did he stumbled backwards in horror. Then he screamed and screamed and screamed.

His grandpa found him minutes later, "Jordan, buddy what's wrong?"

"His eyes…" He gasped between sobs. "The blood….his eyes."

"Come on Jordan just breath for me." Jordan turned away on the ground. His grandfather stood and looked in the car, and then said a word Jordan had never heard him say. He pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed 911.

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* * *

"Who dares disturb the great Magnus Bane!" Alec laughed over the phone and Magnus smiled.

"Hey Magnus, how are you feeling?"

"Fine darling," Magnus twirled his desk chair around and looked out over the empty club. "And you?"

"Tired but good, wanted to ask if you could give me your personal accountant's name so I could go ahead and get started on some of the files." They'd decided the night before that Magnus would meet him at the office at 10, and in the meantime Alec would prepare the documents.

"Of course, I'll email you his contact info." Magnus turned back to his computer and emailed Alec what he needed.

"I heard through the grapevine."

"Meaning your sister."

Alec laughed, "It's like you know us."

"I should hope so darling." Magnus said warmly.

"Anyway, Izzy said Jace and Clary weren't going to be at lunch this week, and Izzy has super important job things to do, so it's just me and you."

"Well, that certainly is news."

Alec rolled his eyes, "I was wondering if you wanted to get lunch somewhere else."

"And miss the adorable faces that you make at the smell of the Mediterranean place. Hmmm….that's a tough one."

"Magnuuuuss." Alec whined and Magnus laughter overrode him.

"Of course Alexander, where did you have in mind?"

"How's Thai?"

"That one place?"

"Yeah, hey what time are you going to be home tonight? I'll come by if I can."

"More than likely around midnight, weeknights at the club wrap up a little earlier for me. But darling you don't.."

"I'll call if I can't make it."

"Well okay, but you don't have to…"

"Yes," Alec said pointedly, "I do."

He didn't have to sound so put out over it thought Magnus as he hung up. Magnus wasn't clinging to him or demanding his time. In fact he'd been very careful of Alexander that morning when he'd left, not pushing or demanding his time. Certainly a man didn't spend an entire day in the bed of someone he had no intention of seeing again, but Magnus knew Alec. He knew he'd never really had a relationship, and for some reason it wasn't until this exact second that he decided to freak out over why that was.

He grabbed his phone and hit #2 and Izzy answered after 3 rings. "I'm freaking out." he said panicky.

"About what?" she chirped.

"I slept with your brother." Magnus said bluntly, knowing it was better to get it out of the way.

"What?" she screamed in his ear, "OH MY GOD! CONGRATULATIONS! WHEN WHERE...OMG nevermind I don't want to know, but Yesssss!" He could hear her dancing around her office.

"Isabelle, calm down, I said I was freaking out!" Magnus hissed.

"Oh yeah you did say that. So what's up buttercup?" Magnus could still hear the grin in her voice.

Magnus put his head down on his desk peering between his knees, "I might be stupidly in love with him, but he's been single forever and there's a fucking reason for it, but I don't….Izzy I don't know what I'm doing."

"Magnus. None of us do. I can't tell you what to say or do, but I can tell you that if you're honest, he'll be honest in return." Izzy said gently.

"What if his honesty is telling me to get lost?" Magnus all but wailed over the phone, knowing he was being dramatic, but the flutters in his belly were crawling out of him and he wanted the anxiety to just stop.

"That's his choice, but don't make that decision for him. Don't be stupid Magnus. What if he wants you just as much as you want him, and you leave before you can build something together. Just talk to him." Izzy commanded.

She was the best. The literal best. "Love you."

"Love you too. Come see me."

Magnus promised to come see her later that week. It was almost time to head to the FBI offices, so he took a look around to make sure he wasn't missing anything before heading out the door to meet his…..maybe boyfriend.


	8. Chapter 8

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Alec tossed his phone on his desk and rubbed his forehead. Trust Magnus to get wrapped up with a damn accountant that was smart enough to scam the government. He'd been pouring over Magnus' finances for the past few hours and he could already tell shit was about to get real. Not to mention Camille had started moving large chunks of her assets only yesterday. It was incredibly suspicious.

He'd found about 30 different shell corporations she was making payments to using the club as a front. Interestingly, she wasn't actively trying to blackmail or frame Magnus. His name was 100% clean. Alec read over his file, and he had to wonder if it had anything to do with Magnus' father. Notorious crime boss that he was, it made sense if she was somehow working for or with him.

He knew who he was. Everyone in their group did. Magnus had made a point of talking to all of them over the years. He had felt it was better for everyone to know the truth rather than find out about it and be hurt by the news. Alec knew he had very little interaction with Asmodeus, but it was still interesting the way Camille steered clear of Magnus. Going with his gut, he sent off a couple of emails to have the analysts see how often Camille and Asmodeus' travel plans lined up.

She'd actually been relatively smart for a money launderer, she moved small quantities and she moved them on busy nights at the club, but she never raised eyebrows with larger than normal influxes. He nodded at one of the interns when they came into his office to give him a file.

"Sir, Director Garroway asked that I give this to you." It was a file on a murder. Alec scrunched his brow. The intern continued, "he said one of the known locations for this guy to hang out was Pandemonium. He said it might be useful to you."

Alec nodded in thanks and the kid went back to his desk. Alec flipped through the file but didn't see anything too interesting. The guy, Valentine, reminded him of someone, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. So he threw the picture on his desk, maybe it would come to him if it was out in the open.

Sometime later he actually heard Magnus before he saw him. Greeting those he knew with light laughs and friendly handshakes. Alec stood in his office door waiting for Magnus to make his way over. He smiled watching Magnus in his space, he definitely stood out, but he was comfortable and relaxed. A thought came to him, and he couldn't help the driving need to see it done. Stepping fully out of his office Magnus immediately turned to him with a smile, so Alec met him halfway with a kiss. In the center of his office.

Magnus eyes went wide and his expression was one of complete befuddlement. Alec smiled down at him and said "I won't make you think for a second you're something for me to hide, and I won't be something you consider shameful."

"Word for word quote, my my Alexander you are a wonder." Magnus lifted up and kissed Alec's cheek. Alec just looked at him and smiled fondly then grabbed his hand and led him back to his office.

"Make yourself comfortable, I've put together a bit of a summary." Alec pulled some folders from his desk, and walked around it to sit in the chair beside Magnus. He'd laid it out as simply as he was able. Letting Magnus go over what he'd found was difficult because he didn't like to see the slump in his shoulders or the way he stiffened as he came across parts of the report. Camille was an underhanded bitch.

"So that's it then. She really has been trying to destroy my…"Magnus trailed off and turned to look out the window of Alec's office. The light from the window illuminated his profile and Alec was struck by just how deeply he was attracted to the man beside him. Magnus drew in a calming breath and stood up from the chair placing the file on Alec's desk. "Thank you Alexander, for everything." Magnus picked up the picture of Valentine on Alec's desk, and his eyes went wide. Then he closed them and took a deep breath. "I'll be in touch." Without any further explanation he turned to the door.

Alec was in shock. Magnus wasn't just going to leave was he, but it looked that way. Alec quickly stood up and grabbed his arm. "Magnus stop, just wait."

Magnus very gently pried Alec's hand off of his arm squeezing his fingers as he released him. "Darling, there's nothing left to say. You have been very thorough. I understand what I need to do." As every word came out of Magnus' mouth, Alec could see him pulling in on himself. Closing off. Alec ignored everything he was saying and pulled him into his arms. "Alec…"

"Magnus, I didn't bring you here to tell you what you already know. I brought you here to make a plan. I'm not going to let anything happen to you or your club." Magnus felt like a brick in his arms, so Alec pulled back and put his hands on Magnus' shoulders, but Magnus jerked out of his arms and looked at him harshly.

"You can't promise that Alec, you can't, so don't do this to me." Magnus headed towards his door, and Alec watched helplessly as he very proudly made his way out of the building. Head held high, confidently leaving Alec to wonder what the hell he'd done wrong.

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Maia frowned at Raphael as he sat on a stool at her bar. This was not his scene even if it was 11AM and they didn't open for another few hours, he stayed well away from places like this. He worked with the local homeless youth sure, but the last place she'd ever expect him to be was prowling around a nightclub. There he was though.

"Raphael, how'd you get in." She let her disapproval come through as she said his name.

Raphael looked down at the bar. "I wanted to ask you some questions, and I helped Louis out of a tight spot last year so he let me in."

She raised her brow at that, but Raphael was good people. "Sure. What's up?"

From his jacket pocket Raphael took out three photos of kids. "These three kids have all disappeared from the shelters and streets in the past few weeks. Then the police found they'd all been killed. There's more from what I understand, but these are the one's that I know."

Maia knew the stories she'd seen it all on the news. "Yeah I know, what's going on Raphael?"

"You know I help Clary and Jace out sometimes when they're trying to get information. Well one of my people said that the kids had all been seen with a man that hung out here pretty regularly. I was just wondering if you could ask around?"

Maia frowned but nodded, eager to help out if she could. "Of course. I'll let you know if I come across anything."

Raphael nodded in thanks and quickly left the club. Maia wiped down the bar area and went over the bar prep thinking about Meliorn. He tended to get a little bit closer to the club patrons than Maia did, so she made a point to remember to ask him when he got to work.

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Alec was well on his way to rage, having passed pissed off when he'd watched Magnus walk out of his office. He hadn't answered his phone in two hours and now Alec was left staring at the picture of the man on his desk remembering just how Magnus had reacted to it. There had been subtle recognition, and then he'd lit out of Alec's office so fast he hadn't been able to catch his breath.

Something had been niggling at Alec's gut for days. The dark haired woman in the club, Lydia, Jace's investigation of the murdered kids, it was all pulling him in so many directions he couldn't think straight. What he did know was that Magnus was at the center of it. Something was gathering around him, and Alec was worried as hell. Not that he didn't imagine Magnus could take care of himself, but he'd feel a hell of a lot better if Magnus hadn't pushed him away.

He didn't have enough information, staring at the dead man's picture and squeeze his hand into a fist, the man's face was pulling at him. Dammit he mumbled. He didn't have enough information, but he knew how to get it. Picking up the keys to his SUV, he jogged out of the office shooting a quick text to Luke.

He drove by Magnus' apartment first checking his parking spot to see if he'd gone home, he hadn't and Alec cursed. Driving by the club got the same results. He very carefully thought about calling his sister, but he didn't want to dump his drama on her quite yet. If, after his errand Magnus hadn't answered, he'd call her. Camille wasn't dangerous, as far as he could tell so far, but not knowing where Magnus was made him worry. And pressure could drive people to do the damndest things.

Alec pulled up to the nice colonial and stepped out of his SUV, stepping onto the front porch he knocked on the door briskly.

"Hello Alec." Lydia said from her open front door.

Alec glared and crossed his arms over his chest.

She deflated just the slightest bit. "You'd better come in and sit." Alec followed her into the house and dropped into a chair at her dinning room table. "I don't know where to start."

"Why don't you start with why the hell you're lying to me? Or what the hell it is you're after?" Alec snapped.

"It's personal." She said as she dropped a cup of coffee on the table in front of him. "And it's dangerous."

Alec hooked an ankle over his knee and leaned back in his chair, "well why don't you tell me why I shouldn't be pissed at you then. I at the very least thought we were friends Lydia. This feels like a set up."

She nodded. "In a way it is, but not in the way you think."

"Spit it out." Alec all but growled at her.

She sat down at the table. "Two years ago, I got put on an international sex trafficking case that had been through at least 5 different case leads over the years prior. No one could do anything, no one could find any evidence, the kids were bought and sold with no discernible chatter. Vice is mostly local, we very rarely handle cross city cases, but my boss was very adamant that I do what I could. So I got to work, and I got a lead, and then I woke up one morning to the news that my husband was never coming home."

Well fuck thought Alec. Everyone knew that Lydia's husband had died. He was in the military, a Marine, and he'd been killed overseas. "What happened?" He asked gently.

Lydia's eyes were burning with rage as she recounted the story. "I received an email from an untraceable source that told me if I had backed off he would still be alive." Alec nodded. That was the wrong move with Lydia, she had clearly dug her heels in. "I was pulled from the case obviously when I turned over the email, but Luke came to me a month later and quietly put me back on it with my higher ups approval. We have managed to save a lot of kids over the last year and do so very quietly, but we're not really any closer to nailing the culprits."

"What has all of this got to do with me? Why lie Lydia?" Alec was exasperated.

"To be honest when you first contacted me I panicked. Then I had a brilliant idea. Or what I thought was a brilliant idea." She looked at him so hopefully that he couldn't help but wave for her to go on. "Luke came to me about this case and you're pretty well known in law enforcement circles as someone who solves cases, and when I ran it by Luke he agreed." Alec could feel his temper simmering again.

"You talked to my boss?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Yes I talked to your boss, he talked to me first." She said huffily. "Anyway, you're not really cleared for my kind of field work. You've never been a field agent, and I've lost several of my under covers to this case." She pressed a hand to her chest, clearly remembering her lost team members."They wind up in the river, or they just don't wake up one morning. I've been to more funerals than I care to count." She sipped her coffee lost a little bit to her thoughts. "I thought I'd do the whole match making thing for you and see how you handled yourself in social situations, under pressure, in the field, uncomfortable situations, and if you kept an awareness or if you really did belong behind a desk."

Alec stood up from the table, "You're telling me this was a job interview?" he said incredulously.

She shrugged, "Well yeah I guess when you say it like that it seems weird."

Alec crossed his arms over his chest as he glared down at her. "A little weird! Are you insan…" He trailed off. "The dark haired woman in the club works for you."

"Aline. She'll be pleased to know you clocked her." Lydia said smugly.

Alec started pacing. "What does Pandemonium have to do with sex trafficking?" Alec asked warily thinking of Magnus and his complete shut down this morning.

"The club itself, nothing. Its patrons on the other hand, several regulars are suspects and we know that buying and selling meetings are arranged in the VIP area."

"That's why you're after Magnus."

"Actually, it's less him and more his father."

Alec stopped pacing and had a bit of a dawning realization. "Fuck" he said out loud. Lydia sat up straight in her chair and looked at him inquiringly. "Camille. Look into Camille. I've got something to take care of." He turned to leave but Lydia scrambled after him.

"Wait Alec, what about working for this team?" Alec paused but didn't turn around.

"I'll call Luke. This was stupid Lydia, you should have just asked me."

"I didn't want to see another agent dead because I have bad instincts. Luke assured me it would be fine, but I wanted Aline to see." Alec finally turned to look at her, and he was struck by how small she was in this space. This case was wearing on her, had worn her down enough that she was scared to bring others into it. Alec could see that. Rubbing a hand across his face he nodded at her and turned to leave.

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Camille ignored her phone, knowing it would probably be Asmodeus and she was so far beyond fucked right now words couldn't begin to describe. Jitters had been running through her since she got off the phone with Hodge. He'd seen the report at the same time she had,the police had found Valentine's body, and it wasn't nearly as clean as it should have been. Hodge was right on time as he pulled into the empty parking lot. They rolled their windows down and she looked at him furious.

"I'm going to have to kill him. If he remembers anything, this whole operation goes under, it's bigger than the boss's kid Camille." Hodge said immediately.

Camille felt a pang of regret. Magnus was a good person, he just had to get in her damn way. With a sigh, she stared at the man across from her. Asmodeus must never find out. If he had even an inkling of what they were planning, death would be a mercy. "You can't outsource it, not like last time. You must take care of it personally." She said waspishly.

Hodge nodded.

"I don't have to tell you what will happen to us if Asmodeus finds out." She couldn't really disguise the fear or her rolling stomach as they sat there in the mid-afternoon day and discussed killing Magnus.

Hodge nodded again.

She glowered but waved her hand. She sat there and watched him drive away. Her stomach was in knots. Rolling knots. Getting out of her car she stood in the parking lot and took deep even breaths. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't quite grasp the control that usually came to her so easily. Pressure surrounded her, and she bent over to try and control her breathing but that just made the dizziness overwhelm her. Stumbling to the back of her car she braced herself and threw up what little she'd eaten that morning. Horror filled her. Her skin clammy as she reached into the car to pull a tissue from her purse and wipe her lips.

She hadn't cried since she was 16, and she wasn't going to start today. But fuck, did she want to.

Getting back in her car she resigned herself to the decision that she'd already made. There was no going back, there had never been any going back. Not since the first shipment of kids had been sold. She'd cashed her check and known damn well it was her soul she was committing to hell. She'd just never thought killing Magnus would be part of that path. Resolute in her choice, she drove back to the club.

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Alec slipped in the back door of the club with a relieved shake. He might not be what Lydia considered a field agent, he didn't work in the underbelly of the city, most of the criminals he dealt with were scamming corporations, not trafficking kids, but he knew how to get into places he didn't necessarily need to be. He had been raised with Jace and Izzy, and just because he didn't partake didn't mean he didn't know how.

With a sick twist to his mouth he was a little insulted by all of this, but he kind of got where she was coming from. Slipping up the stairs and down the hall to the offices. Trying Camille's door, he wasn't surprised to find it locked. Dropping to his knees he made quick work of picking it. 30 seconds. Jace would be disappointed. Stepping into Camille's office, he was looking for something. In Lydia's house he finally remembered where he'd seen the dead man's face on his desk, this club the night he'd gone dancing. And if he wasn't off base, that guy had been up to something, though he wasn't entirely sure what. Knowing Camille was up to something, suspecting someone else was up to something, he wondered if the two would collide.

Tossing Camille's office wouldn't net him any evidence in an official capacity, but having a look wouldn't hurt anything. Pulling her phone, thank god for digital ones these days, he pulled her call log and took pictures of all the numbers. He opened her drawers and dug through them a bit. Then he did what he came here to do, he placed a bug under her desk and four more on her shelves and in her lights. Not official, but useful nevertheless.

He slipped across the hall into Magnus' office and took a snap of his call logs as well. Timing in calls could sometimes be just as important as the content of the call. If someone was contacting Camille and turning right around to contact Magnus, that would be an interesting development. He opened the side drawer and wanted to bang his head against the desk. Magnus had his damn security codes for his house and other sensitive information sitting right there. Alec ripped off the sticky note and crumpled it up in his pocket. Vowing to yell at the idiot.

The club was still technically closed, and Magnus' car still wasn't here, and he hadn't called. Alec wasn't a particularly violent man, but he wanted to punch something. Worry for Magnus was eating at him. He called his boss when he got back into his SUV.

"Garraway."

"Dick."

"Ah Lydia came clean."

"Funny how I didn't even have to hint, you knew it was shitty."

"An interesting exercise. You don't have to say yes."

"Like I'm going to say no. Parameters?"

"You'll be officially loaned to local PD without a full transfer. It'll go down in the paperwork as interagency cooperation. You'll have our resources at your disposal, but still be bound by local precinct jurisdiction."

"And the end goal?"

"Find and take off the head of the snake."

"Understood. Still shitty."

Luke laughed. "I'll have Jocelyn bake you some cookies." Alec was chuckling somewhat as he hung up the phone, and didn't really look at the name of the new call just answered. Maybe Luke had forgotten something. Instead he heard Magnus' shaky voice over the line "Alexander."

Alec was immediately at attention, "Magnus what's wrong." Panic burned through him. He knew what this was. He'd felt it before. Damnit he thought.

"Can you come to my apartment please?"

"I'll be there in 10 minutes. Are you safe?" Alec had already started the car and was pulling into traffic.

"Yes, but hurry." Magnus ended the call before Alec was ready. That panic he'd felt, he sighed. It came from family. Worry about family. About the people he cared about. People he loved. Alec gripped his steering wheel as he settled into the knowledge that he was in love with Magnus Bane. How the hell had it even happened?

Still trying to figure out how in the hell it had happened when he was finally at Magnus' door knocking. Magnus opened it and he looked like complete hell, but that wasn't nearly as eye catching as the complete destruction of the apartment behind him. He pulled Magnus out of the apartment, and jerked his phone out to call Jace.

"Jace, Magnus' apartment has been tossed. I'm taking him to my place. Can you take care of it?" Jace said sure, looking for anything.

"Yeah, I'll send you some stuff." He ended the call and continued to herd Magnus to his car.

"Am I allowed to speak yet." He said sarcastically.

Alec put him in the SUV and got in on his side. "No."

"Alec."

"Magnus I'm two seconds away from losing it. Just let me get you to my house and safe. After that we can talk." Magnus settled down in the seat and relaxed.

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Magnus was exhausted. Beyond exhausted. Alec wasn't speaking to him, and he completely understood. He kind of deserved it after what he'd done. Izzy had yelled at him for a good hour as he sat in her office crying about everything. Objectively he understood that Alec was completely on his side and could take care of himself, but all he could see was his father standing over Alec's dead body with some kind of weapon. He'd recognized the dead man's photo on Alec's desk as Valentine. He was one of his father's lackeys. And in that moment he'd seen the horrible consequences of letting Alec into his life. As a friend it was fine, his father tended to leave his friends alone, but anyone he dated would be on his father's list of curiosities. It was eye opening and terrifying. Magnus could tell Alec was angry, the stiff line of his shoulders, the way he walked told him he was on a very thin edge.

Which was why the minute they crossed the threshold of Alec's house, he was shocked as hell when Alec wrapped himself around Magnus. The hug was so tight Magnus could barely breathe. "I was worried about you, I'm sorry for being an ass." Alec whispered into his neck and Magnus melted like hot chocolate. Damn this man.

Magnus wrapped his arms around Alec's back and kissed his cheek, then he just stood there soaking up every bit of comfort and strength Alec offered. He was still scared, but Izzy had been right. He wasn't alone. Alec pulled back first and directed Magnus toward the bedroom. "Change out of those clothes, I have stuff you can wear and then you and I are going to talk. Okay." Magnus nodded hesitantly but did as he was told without any sort of resentment. And wasn't that a first.

Magnus came out of Alec's bedroom with a washed face, loose sweats and a too big shirt to find Alec sitting on his couch reading. Magnus didn't wait for an invitation, he just snuggled up beside Alec and let him pull Magnus into him with an arm around his shoulders. He kissed Magnus' forehead and tipped Magnus' face up for a sweet kiss that Magnus swore made something inside him shiver. Chaste kisses had never turned him on quite like this before.

"You ready to tell me what's going on?" Alec asked gently, and Magnus couldn't control the heat in his eyes, the tight wetness that he'd been fighting all day.

"The picture on your desk, the dead man?" At Alec's nod he continued, "He worked for my father, and I guess standing in your office I realized that I couldn't ever really escape him. Not really." Magnus put his head on Alec's shoulder. "You remember when my apartment was searched and I said it wasn't a big deal?"

"Yes of course."

"It was my dad. He's always done it. Even when I was at school, I'd come home to things being out of place. When I confront him about it, he says it's because I don't answer my phone. Really it's just one more way he tries to control me. I've been fighting him my whole life." Alec's hand had begun to massage Magnus' back and he was so relaxed it took him a minute to realize Alec wasn't so relaxed.

"And you think I can't handle it." Alec said almost absently.

Magnus sat up and looked at him, "Alexander, if there's anyone I've ever met that could stare down my father it's you."

Alec's brow wrinkled, "Then why did you run away?"

"Because you're you. Noble and right and you play by the rules, and I've never dated anyone that my father would want to assassinate more than you, and I got scared damnit. I'm scared I'm going to wake up one day and you won't be here and it will be my fault because.." Alec cut him off by hauling him into his lap.

"Magnus breathe." Alec commanded as he continued the slow back strokes. "I can't promise you that everything's going to be okay. Hell I don't even know if you want to keep this, what we have, long term."

Magnus turned and wrapped his arms around Alec's neck, "I've never wanted anyone like I want you." Alec's arms came around his back.

"Okay then, you need to talk to me like this. Don't run away." Alec said gently.

Magnus moved back so he could see Alec's face. "Izzy yelled at me for an hour and said mostly the same thing." Alec grinned at him and kissed him hard but wouldn't let Magnus deepen the kiss.

"What about today, your dad ever toss your place like that before?" Alec settled Magnus across his lap and picked up his phone.

"That wasn't my dad, it's why I called you." Alec went still under him raising a brow in question. "I don't know who it was if that's what your eyebrows are asking." Alec frowned but unlocked his phone and sent a text.

"Stay here tonight." It wasn't a question but a statement command. Magnus sighed but nodded. They settled more comfortably on the couch and Alec continued to send off the occasional text. Magnus had no idea where his phone was, he just relaxed and let Alec comfort him into sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Nine Chapter Text

Hodge watched Magnus get into the SUV with the FBI agent and ran a rough hand over his face. This was exactly what he didn't want to happen. This was what happened to sloppy ass people who didn't know when to quit. He'd found what he was looking for in Magnus' apartment, proof that Camille wasn't entirely psychotic, but it had just become useless. Telling Asmodeus to control his son was off the table. If he was informing on his father to the FBI, or if the FBI was in any way watching him, the heat on this particular situation had just escalated to a point well beyond what Hodge was used to dealing with.

Camille was off the rails.

Camille was unusually shaken by this whole situation, which worried Hodge. He still thought everything could be managed if no one lost their cool, but Camille was clearly losing her grip. Because of that he was reluctant to call her and tell her that Magnus was currently in the company of the FBI. In what capacity Hodge couldn't exactly determine. He didn't want to send her off the deep end, but neither did he want to sit on this new development. He really just needed to take Magnus out. They had a shipment ready, Asmodeus was prepared for the buy, and Hodge wanted this wrapped up. The kids were going to bring them a very large payday.

Sighing to himself he figured Magnus would be spooked now, but it wouldn't be any reason for him not to go to work. So he figured his best bet at this point was to stake out the club, but he had a few stops to make before he settled in for the night. No sense hanging around an FBI agent's house and asking for trouble.

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Alec opened his eyes and couldn't keep the soft smile from his face. Magnus looked so peaceful with the morning light illuminating his face. They'd fallen into bed together completely exhausted from the day before, and Alec couldn't remember when he'd slept so comfortably.

Alec has always been good at repressing things. At ignoring what he doesn't want to be true or what he doesn't want to think about until it's too late. Looking at the man in his bed, he couldn't run away from it any longer. He wanted Magnus. Had wanted Magnus for a long time. The love he was feeling, it hadn't come from nowhere. It had built up over time into this thing that he thought he could never have, so much so that he hadn't even considered it.

He's always known Magnus is attractive, it's one of those things he's become accepted as fact and just didn't dwell on, but lately it's been hard not to pay attention to the way he looks. There are the obvious things, like his eyes, his cheekbones, and that mouth, but there are the more unique things, too, that Alec has started to notice, like how his body just seems to line up with Alec's, and how he shrinks down when he's trying to protect himself from something bad, and how he crosses his arms to ward off any physical interaction from others when he's scared.

He had no way of knowing how Magnus felt, they had only briefly spoken the night before, but he was pretty sure Magnus was invested.

"Good morning darling." the husky sound of Magnus' voice made Alec sigh with contentedness. He pulled Magnus closer until his head was resting just under Alec's chin.

"Good morning."

"Time is it?" Magnus asked into his bare chest. Alec grabbed his phone and looked at the time.

"A little after 6." and before Alec can go further Magnus wraps himself around Alec like an octopus and then groans as he buries his face further into Alec's chest.

Alec chuckles. "Jace and Clary will be by soon. We should probably get up."

Magnus waves a hand in the air, shakes his head, and makes a grumbly noise while jerking the covers up over them. Alec kisses his exposed shoulder and then slips from the bed.

"Noooo Alexander come back." came the muffled whine from the nest of blankets.

Alec laughed and sat back down on the bed. "Magnus…"

Magnus poked his head out from under the blanket, "Get back in this bed now." He commanded, though it didn't really carry any kind of punch. It was far too fond and kitten like to be anything other than a plea. Alec, not one to deny gorgeous adorable men pleading with him, pulled the covers back and slides in next to Magnus. "We can't stay here all morning."

Magnus arched his brow, the sleepy softness of his face slowly fading away. "I will not have you thinking you can leave me in bed without morning kisses Alexander. That is not acceptable."

Alec laughed outright. This man. This wonderful man. Alec brought his hands up to cup Magnus' face, and to give him the required morning kisses. Alec pulled back and ran his thumbs along Magnus' cheeks. "If we don't get out of bed, Jace is going to come in here and drag us out."

Alec watched Magnus' face dip into a glower. "Oh if your little brother thinks he can come in our room and…."

Alec interrupted him with a hard kiss and a bright smile.

Magnus looked confused.

"Our room?" Alec said.

Magnus blushed and Alec was delighted. "I mean if that's…"

"It's perfect." Alec pulled Magnus in close again. "But I'm serious about Jace."

"If you feed me, I'll consider getting out of bed."

"Hmmm I think I have cereal."

"Bacon." Magnus said with a whine. "Baaaaacooonnn."

Exasperated, Alec kissed his nose. "Fine, Cereal and bacon."

Magnus gasped, "But eggs, and those little butter biscuit things you make."

Alec laughed, remembering suddenly Magnus' love of all things breakfast related. He'd invited himself to breakfast continuously throughout college. "I suppose I could be persuaded to cook."

"Alexander, I have been through a trauma. I am horrified that you are less than eager to spoil me." Magnus said cheekily and with a dramatic flounce, throwing an arm over his face.

Drama. Queen. Alec let an evil grin come over him. "Oh you think I don't spoil you?" With that Alec rolled out of bed and jerked Magnus up into his arms bridal style, sheets and all.

"Where are you taking me, you heathen." Magnus tried to be serious, but his giggles wouldn't be contained.

"I think you're in need of a shower."

Magnus went tense and looked at Alec wide eyed with disbelief. "Alexander," Magnus said, tone dripping with heavy warning as Alec walked into the bathroom. "Don't you dare."

Alec grinned wickedly, "Problem, Magnus."

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood, put me down right now." Magnus shouted.

"Here, you want me to put you down here?" Alec said with a mischievous grin.

"I mean it, put me down." Magnus eyes went wide the closer they got to the shower. "if you put me in a cold shower I will kill you. I mean it." Magnus hissed as he started to try and wriggle his way free of Alec's hold.

"Honestly Magnus, what do you take me for?"

Alec in very quick succession turned on the cold water and dropped Magnus under the spray, Magnus' shrieks echoing off the bathroom walls. Twisting and pulling to get out of the sheets, Alec turned the warm water on after a moment, and laughed uncontrollably at Magnus. He looked like a drowned rat. So distracted with Magnus' adorable fury, he was caught off guard when Magnus' hand shot up and jerked him into the shower. Soaking wet but happier than he'd been in years, Alec laughed.

Magnus pushed the sheets away, and brushed his wet hair back from his forehead. "You are in so much trouble."

Alec gave his best innocent me look, and watched Magnus' lips twitch. "Good morning beautiful." Alec said with a delighted grin.

"Oh no, no, no you will not be complimenting your way out of this nonsense. I cannot believe you, are you an actual child?" Magnus was still sitting on the floor of the shower, looking more like a drowned kitten than Alec had ever seen him; but he was also laughing, and then he slapped Alec's chest and tried to stand up.

"Here let me." Alec started to say as he carefully helped Magnus stand.

"Oh no, you are banished from showertime activities, in fact that's your punishment. Out. Out." Magnus shooed him out of the shower, and Alec laughed as he made his way to the kitchen to start breakfast. He was a little surprised at his spontaneity, but the more he reflected on himself and just everything, he felt a light come on inside him. It wasn't that he was boring, it was that he really needed someone to help bring out this side of him. The side that teased his brothers and sister, the side that wasn't overwhelmed with doing everything perfectly, the side that could laugh and love and….Alec ran a hand over his furiously beating heart, the side of him that could be free to be himself.

Izzy and Lydia had both said he didn't need to change to find love. Looking over his shoulder at the man in his shower, he thought they might just be right. He only needed to find someone who could make waking up more pleasure than pain.

And if there was anyone in this world that could help him start his day with laughter, it was Magnus Bane.

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Maia took a deep breath to calm her shaking hands.

Raphael, she thought, what the hell have you gotten me into. Meliorn hadn't come in this morning, and before this very moment she wouldn't have been all that worried about it. Bartenders called in all the time, Meliorn needed the money so that was a bit unusual, but not entirely unheard of. Crouched down under the table, behind Camille's desk where she'd been cleaning because Meliorn called in for the early cleaning shift, she couldn't help but wonder if he was even alive.

Camille and someone named Hodge were on the phone together, and they were definitely talking about the dead kids, but what had Maia shaking in terror was their blatant discussion of killing Magnus. No question or hesitation.

Maia very carefully slipped her phone out of her pocket and nervously opened it, quickly silencing the thing, setting it to dark mode, and breathing a sigh of relief she hadn't drawn any attention to herself. She navigated to the voice recorder app and hit start.

"I don't fucking care if he's riding Alec's dick, you will take care of him." Camille demanded. The other side of the conversation couldn't be heard, but whatever Hodge said pissed her off.

"Hodge. Listen to me. Magnus is not a secret assassin sent by his father. He knows basic hand to hand, Asmodeus would have seen to that, but he's not a villain. Just shoot him. Clean and easy." Camille had begun to pace and her anger was only growing.

"The shipment will arrive on time, Asmodeus is coming here personally to oversee the sale of the kids, and then you and I are out. This is the last job. All the money is in place we just need to see this through. Magnus jeopardizes this and you know it."

"I don't care. Do it." Camille hung up the phone and Maia continued to sit under the table, and watch the spike of Camille's blood red heel pace back and forth. Soundless on the carpeted floor of the office, Maia watched her heel sink in with every step forward and backward.

Camille made another call.

"Asmodeus, my apologies. I know. I fucked up, Hodge and I both fucked up. You won't regret it." She hung up quickly after that. Clearly talking to herself, Maia watched her pull a gun out of her purse and check the safety. "One more chance so I'll be leaving nothing to chance." Camille's voice made Maia shiver, she sounded like an actual demon.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Breathe in.

Don't lose it. Her shaking fingers scrolled through her contacts.

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Jace wouldn't stop grinning at him over his scrambled eggs, and Magnus was having a very hard time controlling his desire to slap Alec's brother. Little shit that he was. Jace hadn't bothered to knock on the front door to announce his arrival, oh no, no, no that would just be too much to ask. Instead he'd opened the door right as Magnus was about to get another early morning kiss from his delicious host. He'd purposefully come out of the shower with his towel very loosely wrapped around his hips, and made his way into the kitchen to distract Alexander while he made mouth-watering bacon. He'd just gotten his arms around Alec's neck when the infuriating blonde had cleared his throat obnoxiously from the doorway.

Alec had blushed hotly at the interruption, but Magnus wasn't about to be deterred. "Go away."

"I have some info about who broke into your place." Was all it took for Alexander's attention to be fully stolen away. Magnus begrudgingly conceded that his safety might be more important than kisses, but just barely. Glowering over his shoulder he'd stomped back to the bedroom to dress himself and curse the intruders. Clary, the traitor, had giggled at him as he went.

Alone in the shower earlier he'd made his decision. He wasn't going to let Alec go, well unless he ran away, but if given the chance and the opportunity Magnus was going to keep him. Forever. Camille had broken his heart in a way he'd never experienced before. He'd never felt as useless as he had when she told him directly that he was less than what she needed. It had taken him years to understand that the only person's happiness he was responsible for was his own. It had taken him far less time to understand that Alec was a good influence on his happiness.

From the moment he'd seen Alexander he'd felt something, it was too bad he'd decided back then that a broken heart was too scary to fight for him. Now that he knew exactly what a broken heart felt like, he desperately wished he hadn't been so afraid all those years ago. He wasn't going to make that same mistake again.

Joining the others in the kitchen had been so much easier than he imagined. Jace and Clary simply accepted Magnus' place by Alec's side and he was grateful. The teasing he could honestly do without, but he knew it was because they loved him.

"Alright, so we know that Valentine worked for Asmodeus, and we know that he's the one that's been killing the kids. That ties Valentine to the trafficking." Jace said seriously as he pushed his plate away from him.

"When did you find out Valentine was killing the kids?" Alec asked.

"Last night the forensics came back, and it was definitely him." Clary pushed back from the table and began gathering the dishes. Magnus stood up to help her.

"What about Magnus' place?" Alec pulled the folder Jace handed him, open and began flipping through the pages.

"That's the thing, I don't think they're related, or if they are we don't have the link yet. There was a truck outside Magnus' apartment, and it's been regularly seen at Pandemonium." Jace crossed his arms over his chest. "I was hoping Magnus might recognize it." Magnus came back in the room and flipped through the photos looking for something recognizable.

Then it hit him. Square in the face. His eyes went wide and he leaned against the table. "Fuck."

Alec was up like a shot moving around the table to draw Magnus into his arms. "What is it?"

Clary and Jace faded away as he drew in a deep breath of Alec's sent. "I saw them kill Valentine." He said with a shaky but confident voice.

Alec swore and Jace and Clary weren't far behind him. "Magnus what happened?"

"I was doing my nightly rounds, before it gets super crazy. It was the second night you came to dance. They came out of the side entrance and Valentine was stumbling. I assumed he was drunk and his friends were helping him, they put him in the back of an SUV. Not that one, and then Hodge walked away from them." Magnus shook his head baffled. He knew he'd recognized him that night, why the hell hadn't he put it together.

"Who the hell is Hodge?" Jace demanded.

Magnus frowned, "He's worked for my father for years. Him longer than Valentine. I don't have any idea what he does, but I know he's who I saw with Valentine that night." Magnus said certainly.

"That's why they tossed your place." Alec pulled Magnus in closer and squeezed. "They either saw you there that night, or they think you know something, my money is on the parking lot surveillance being gone as well."

"Ordinarily I would agree with you, but my father would never sanction it. As much as we don't see eye to eye, my father would never…" Magnus trailed off his eyes going wide and horror overcoming him. He pushed out of Alec's arms and began to pace.

"How could I be so stupid?" Magnus said harshly.

Alec was moving closer but Magnus couldn't. He held his hand up. "Have you checked to see how often my father and Camille's phone records overlap?" Magnus couldn't help the desperate plea inside of himself that was screaming no, this couldn't be true, but further down deep inside of him he knew it was the truth.

Alec winced. And he was certain.

"I haven't got the data back, but I had already thought to ask. Just to cover our bases. And I bugged her office."

Magnus was furious. Not at Alec, he was doing his job, no he wanted to go on a rampage and rip that vile woman to shreds. His eyes flashed as he looked at his family. "Go see what you can find, I'm going to the club." Turning on his heel he wasn't shocked to feel Alec's arms come around him.

"Magnus, please don't do anything rash." Alec whispered into his ear. How the hell had he stayed away from this perfect man for so long? Not only was he not trying to take over his life by ordering him around, he was letting his worry come through without shutting Magnus down. He had never in his life been loved by someone who didn't want to control some aspect of his life. It took every ounce of control he had not to swing around and shout I love you as openly and loudly as he could. But Alec deserved better. He deserved to hear it for the first time, when it was just the two of them, and when things weren't so damned desperate.

Instead, he turned around and kissed him. Arms wrapped around his waist and he smiled into the kiss. "You'll be careful as well?" He asked gently.

"Of course." Alec said as he nuzzled into Magnus' shoulder.

Magnus heard Jace's phone ring, but it was his tone that snapped him out of his daze.

"Maia, calm down you're not making any sense. Yeah. yeah. Shit. Holy fuck. Do not move, do you understand me, I'm coming to get you. Stay there. Yeah Magnus is here with us, we'll make sure he's safe. Yeah." Jace pulled the phone down a bit.

"Maia's at the club, and has recording of Camille plotting to kill you. I'll take Clary, you two head to the precinct. We need Magnus to ID Hodge anyway. We can just kill two birds this way." Clary and Jace were out the door almost before he finished speaking. God he hoped Maia was okay.

Magnus watched the world around him whiz by. He could barely keep up. His ex was trying to kill him. "Magnus, are you alright?" Alec asked him, and Magnus snapped out of it.

"I don't know…this is so surreal. Obviously my father is basically the mob, but I've never actually known about a hit on me if there's been one. I'm just trying to process, also I saw a man murdered and that's never been..."

Alec ran his hands up and down Magnus' arm, "you don't expect to see a murder, unless there's a shot or a bang or something obvious, it's far outside most people's experience." Alec kissed him, and ran a finger across his cheek. "I'm going to keep you safe."

Magnus looked up at him and an idea began to form. It maybe wouldn't solve everything, but it might have the least amount of fall out for everyone. "I'm going to keep you safe too Alexander."


	10. Chapter 10

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Maia was shaky, but she was coherent. To cover all his bases, Alec insisted she take a breathalyzer test; nothing registered. It would damage the case if there was any question about her sobriety, regardless of her character, she was a bartender and some dipshit would bring it up. Jace was taking her statement, and the rest of them were huddled around the bar listening to her phone recording.

Lydia's face was about as serious as he'd ever seen it when she turned to Magnus, "is there anything you can tell us that will help us figure out what Camille is doing?"

Magnus shook his head. Alec had seen his face when he heard Camille essentially order his murder, and he didn't like how pale Magnus was. The recording linked Camille to Asmodeus definitively, so she was going to be facing some serious trouble. Alec didn't really give a shit about her, he was concerned with how to keep Magnus from suffering.

"I don't know that I'll be any help, but ask me whatever you want." Magnus offered with no hesitation.

Alec shook his head, "We need to bring Camille in. Finding her should be our first priority, we can question Magnus after she's brought in." He watched Lydia cross her arms and consider what he said.

"Okay you're right. We need to put Magnus somewhere safe, Camille is clearly looking for him." Alec nodded and pulled Magnus over to Jace and Clary.

"Jace, Magnus is going to stay with Izzy. Can you…"

Magnus jerked his arm out of Alec's hold and put his hands on his hips. With a fierce glower, he interrupted him, "Alexander, I'm not just going to…"

But Alec wasn't having it, and spoke over his boyfriend. "Magnus. Izzy will put a bullet in Camille if she so much steps foot on her property and you know it. She's your best friend. You're hanging out with her for the night, and we're doing boring cop stuff. Or did you want to hang out in the NYPD break room until this is over?" Alec raised his brow, but moved closer to Magnus to put his hands on his shoulders. Magnus glare dimmed somewhat.

"You promise you're not doing anything dangerous." Magnus leaned forward into Alec's space for a hug, "I don't think I could bear it if anything happened to you because of me."

Alec leaned down and kissed Magnus' forehead. "Hey, first off it wouldn't be because of you, it would be because of Camille. You're not responsible for her choices. Second, I'm always careful."

Jace clapped Alec on the back, "I'll get him to Iz, you go take care of his psycho ex."

With one last brief kiss, Alec reluctantly pushed away from Magnus and headed back towards Lydia.

8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8

Magnus wasn't anywhere Hodge could find, which made him nervous as hell. He hadn't shown up at the club last night, and he wasn't home this morning. He'd called the club and hadn't got an answer, so he'd called Camille. When people veered so far out of their normal behaviors, something was up.

So he'd gone to the club to sit and wait, when the cavalry had literally arrived. Camille had left an hour or so before, and now the place had cops from all over the alphabet. What made Hodge want to turn his truck around and get out of dodge, was Magnus being led into the club by a very protective FBI agent.

It was a small detail, the way he angled his body around Magnus, but it was the little details that would jump up and bite you on the ass when you least expected it, if you didn't pay attention and take care of them. His instinct was battering against him to pay attention.

He called Camille again. She didn't answer. That was incredibly worrisome. On a long shot he called her house. She picked up on the second ring.

"Magnus isn't home." Hodge said.

"Hodge! Thank god!" Camille sounded, not hysterical, but on the verge of something.

"Listen, we're in trouble. We've got to get our stories straight, back each other up. Then we'll need to lie low for awhile."

"Trouble? What?" Hodge kept his voice mild, while he started shifting through his options.

"Maia, the bartender in the club, overheard our phone call this morning. It's only a matter of time before she goes to the cops."

Jesus, Hodge pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes. If Camille had just paid attention to her surroundings, instead of letting her arrogance let her believe she was invincible…

"How do you know?" His question was unnecessary, he knew damn well how she knew.

"She told Meliorn, and he was in my bed when I got home. The little dipshit waited until I got here to tell me, like it was some joke. I wouldn't have had enough time to get back to the club before the police."

"Well it's a good thing Magnus was hiding out, it would have been incredibly inconvenient if I had taken care of him this morning." Hodge said calmly.

"We can still fix this. We just need to get Magnus off the table." Camille said maniacally.

She couldn't actually be this stupid. Although, she hadn't watched Magnus walk into his club under the protective umbrella of a handful of law enforcement officers. He was most definitely giving a statement, and there was no telling what he actually knew.

This wasn't good. With her behavior like it was, Hodge had zero confidence that Camille was going to hold strong. If she got rattled, she'd fold like a cheap table.

Well that was out of the question.

"How good a cop is Alec?"

"Damn good. He has one of the highest close rates at the FBI. Why? What does Alec have to do with anything?" She asked.

"Tell you what," Hodge said. "Just sit tight, pretend nothing is going on, and you'll be just fine." Yeah right. "Nothing has happened, we haven't actually attempted to kill Magnus, so no crime. Alec might question you, but so what? Just say you were joking around."

"Good idea." She said, and Hodge wanted to groan.

"Don't speak to anyone. Let it blow over. We'll handle this shipment of kids, and Asmodeus will be happy as a clam and this will all go away." Hodge disconnected the call and watched as a blonde haired police officer walked Magnus out to a car.

What he had here was a major fuck up. If Alec was half the agent Camille said he was, he had Camille, Hodge and probably Valentine Id'd as accomplices. Magnus could have very well remembered and already told him what he'd seen.

There were times when the only move you could make was to cut your losses and do damage control. At most if they got him it'd be for conspiracy to commit, potentially obstruction, there wasn't enough evidence for anything else.

Calmly the way Hodge did everything. He stepped out of his vehicle and walked toward the entrance to the club. An on duty police officer stopped him.

"The club's not open for hours yet sir."

"I'd like to speak to Alec Lightwood. I have information on Camille Belcourt."

"The agent is busy." the officer said stubbornly.

"I think he'll make an exception, I'm Hodge Starkweather, and he's probably looking for me." The officer's eyes went wide and Hodge turned towards the door.

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Magnus opened his eyes and groaned. His head was on fire, and he could barely feel his hands as they were tied behind him very tightly. Meliorn had thrown him in the back seat of an SUV and Magnus could barely see anything in front of him. Cursing his own trusting nature, he wiggled around until he could find a somewhat comfortable position. Alec was going to lose his shit over this, and a part of Magnus, the vindictive part, was looking forward to the explosion.

He and Izzy had very dutifully sat at home, but when Meliorn had called him upset over the whole Camille thing and offered to bring them dinner, Magnus had easily accepted. Izzy had been a little concerned, but it was Meliorn . They had no reason to suspect he was working with Camille. They should have cleared it with Alec, but Magnus knew he'd say no, and comforting his employee overrode his sense of self preservation.

Now tied up in the back of Camille's SUV, Magnus had to wonder at his ability to read people. He had never suspected that Meliorn was sleeping with Camille, much less that she had enough of a hold on him to get him to kidnap someone.

"Hey you're awake." Meliorn said from the front drivers seat.

"No shit Sherlock." Magnus said nastily, he couldn't see Meliorn's face, but he hoped the kid knew exactly how pissed he was right now.

"Don't worry boss, she's not going to hurt you. Just with everything that Maia told the cops and stuff, she's worried about your dad." Meliorn turned off on a side street which jostled Magnus and he fell forward slightly. The SUV came to a slow stop. "Seriously, I wouldn't have done this if I thought she'd hurt you. She just wants a guarantee from your dad that nothing will happen to her, you know."

Magnus rolled his eyes. Camille couldn't possibly be that stupid. His father would agree to his safety, but turn around five minutes later and put a bullet in her. She had to have a better plan than just, "I'll give you your kid if you back off." Otherwise she was screwed, and Magnus was in a far more precarious position than he wanted to be at the moment. Meliorn didn't get out of the car, so Magnus figured he was waiting on Camille to join them and sure enough a short time later she opened the door.

She looked over the back seat and giggled, and Magnus realized at that moment that she had completely lost it. She had gone off the rails. Barely any sanity remained. Someone that was about to face down his father didn't giggle unless they had nothing to lose and nothing to fear.

"You could have at least sat him upright Mel."

Magnus watched Meliorn's shoulders raise in a shrug. "Didn't have that much time, the sister could have woken up any minute."

Camille patted his shoulder, "No matter, we have what we need. Asmodeus is waiting for us at the warehouse. Let's go."

"My cut. I want it before we talk to the boss." Magnus could hear the boys nerves, and tensed because he shouldn't have done that. With as unstable as Camille was, Meliorn had just poked a rattlesnake.

Camille sighed. "Of course, that's sensible." Magnus watched her lean down and figured she was grabbing a bag of some sort, but when she raised up she clearly had some weapon in her hand because a loud bang echoed in the vehicle. Meliorn screamed, but Camille wasted no time and reached over Meliorn's stiff body to open the door and push him out.

Magnus was suddenly scared, more scared than he could ever remember being in his life. He hoped Meliorn was okay, looking out the window he saw him moving around and breathed a sigh of relief. He could call for help. Magnus thanked god, Camille, unlike his father, was sloppy. Growing up with his father, he'd known just beyond a door in their home someone could be begging for their lives, but his father had kept him well away from any real danger. With that kind of trauma in his childhood, it had made it incredibly difficult for him to reach out to people. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in Alec's arms. If this night had done nothing else, it had driven home just how safe he felt in Alec's presence. He craved that feeling after living the life he'd had, and he'd never met anyone who'd made him feel a tenth of what Alec made him feel.

"Don't worry darling, he's not dead. There's a nice NYPD car not too far from here, they'll find him and fix him right up." Camille slid easily into the driver's seat and put her foot on the gas, Magnus couldn't keep the image of Cruella DeVille out of his head.

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Rage wasn't something that Alec was all that comfortable with. He didn't experience it enough or on a regular basis to be able to sort through the grip it had on his mind. Controlling himself had always been something he took a great deal of pride in. Jace was currently holding him back, but it was a struggle. Alec wanted desperately to barge into the warehouse and shoot everyone putting Magnus in danger. Hodge had given them the location of the buy for the kids, and then Izzy had called and told him what happened to Magnus. He'd very nearly crushed his phone in his hand. Lydia had convinced him to come to the warehouse rather than chase down Camille.

"Alec, man, take a deep breath." Jace was whispering in his ear. "You go charging in there and a stray bullet could kill him. We need to be cool about this."

Alec knew Jace was right. He knew that. But it didn't stop the overwhelming need in him to throw himself into the middle of everything to protect Magnus. He'd maybe come to the realization later than he should have, but he loved Magnus. Had loved him for a long time. Not in the way he loved him now, but he considered Magnus family. If Izzy had shown up on his doorstep and told him Magnus was in trouble, Alec wouldn't have hesitated before. Now that he imagined a future with Magnus, day dreamed about him, and wanted to spend the rest of his life with him, that feeling had intensified ten fold.

He took the breaths that Jace commanded him to and felt his heart rate settle back down. "I'm going to kill all of them." He said furiously checking his weapon and mentally going over everything Hodge had told them.

Jace nodded. "We'll take care of it and him. Settle down."

Alec nodded jerkily. "Yeah okay."

Lydia dropped down beside him. "They have enough audio to put them all away for years. The surveillance team said we could go in whenever we're ready. The kids are safe enough for now in one of the large shipping containers in the warehouse. The only risk right now is Magnus."

Jace groaned. "Not a good choice of words Lydia."

Her eyes went wide. "No, no, Alec wait." Jace had already grabbed his arm.

"What." He bit out. His anger rising to the surface again.

"WE risk him if we go in now. They think if it plays out, and Camille hands Magnus over, he'll be fine. Asmodeus is far less likely to put Magnus at risk. Camille will kill him if backed into a corner. So we let her hand him over and then we go in."

Alec's eyes went flinty, "So we use him as bait for Asmodeus."

Lydia's anger rose up, "No you ass. We mitigate the danger to him by putting him in his father's hands and then use his father's love of him to keep him safe. It's a reasonable strategy."

Alec frowned but nodded. "Fine. We try it your way. I will act if it looks like he's in danger." Alec knew his words sounded like a threat, but at this point he didn't much care. Hodge had given them the edge they needed, but he'd jeopardize the entire operation if it meant Magnus might be hurt. Damn them all.

8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8

Alec had his weapon drawn and his hands were steady, shoulder to shoulder with Jace, they burst into the building. The NYPD and FBI were yelling at everyone to lower their weapons and surrender.

Magnus was standing with his father.

Everyone in the room was armed.

Alec's weapon was trained on Asmodeus, but he glanced at Camille and saw the crazed look in her eyes so he shifted his focus. She snapped. Bloodshot eyes and fear overwhelmed her to such a degree that Alec couldn't predict what she was going to do. Lydia had been right. Loosening his stance he observed her, watching the gun she held at her side carefully. Reports had come through that she'd shot Meliorn, so Alec knew she wasn't afraid of the weapon in her hands. Asmodeus was raising his hands, and commanding his men to back down. Alec could see the minute Camille's body tensed.

In barely a blink she raised her weapon, and Alec fired. All hell broke lose.

Going back over the events in his head, he couldn't really say he had any thought at all when it happened. He just pulled the trigger. Concern for Magnus obviously drove him, but he couldn't really say she was pointing her gun at Magnus, Asmodeus, or the cops surrounding her. All he knew was that she had a gun in her hand, her finger was on the trigger, and the look in her eyes was erratic. The FBI didn't give him too hard a time, enough witnesses had corroborated his actions that he wasn't grilled to within an inch of his life. For the FBI, they'd gone easy on him.

In the end, arresting Asmodeus was a little anticlimactic. Lydia had the cuffs on him with barely any argument. Magnus had fallen into Alec's embrace, trembling with relief and shock. Alec could barely control his own body's reaction to the events. Jace had been instrumental in both organizing and taking care of the scene. He'd ushered Magnus and Alec outside to the onsite medics, telling the both of them not to disappear.

8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8∞8

It was almost four o'clock in the morning when Alec pushed open his front door with a groan. It had been a hell of a day already. Hodge was at the office spilling his guts while the analysts at the FBI and the NYPD took copious notes. Alec had been part of several raids on warehouses containing stolen children, indentured slaves, and missing persons from more than a few countries. Hodge's intel checked out, but Luke had finally told him to take a few days. He was filthy, tired, and sore in places he hadn't been since rookie training.

Asmodeus was well and truly captured, Camille was dead, and Magnus was currently curled up in his bed like he belonged there. Izzy had told him that Magnus had struggled with his feelings for what happened to Camille, they'd spent most of the past few days coming to grips with everything that had happened. In a somewhat awkward turn of events, Camille had Magnus listed as her benefactor, and so all of the money she'd siphoned from the club was now under Magnus' control. Magnus had been so emotionally drained that he'd taken to passing out at Alec's, too exhausted to go home in the evenings. Alec smiled gently at the lump in his bed. They'd talked a little over the past few days, but they'd barely had a chance to just be together. Alec really wanted to crawl into his bed, but he needed to wash the sweat and god knows what off of himself before he did. Magnus stirred when he opened the bathroom door.

"Alec" came his sleepy query.

"I'm washing off, go back to sleep." Magnus of course did the exact opposite and slid out of the bed, pulling on the silk robe he'd thrown at the foot of the bed. Alec wanted to grab him and bury his face right there in the exposed crook of his shoulder, but he'd probably smack him for getting him dirty. Dear god he looked good, he couldn't help but think, with his sleep mussed hair and sleepy brown eyes. His skin looked soft, and the robe did nothing to hide the fact that all he wore to bed was a pair of teal boyshorts.

"Magnus, go back to bed, everything is wrapped up."

"I know darling, everyone called me. Everyone but you."

Alec cringed, but Magnus waved his hand in the air. "It's quite alright, I knew you were busy. Go take your shower and I'll make you some breakfast." Alec could have died and gone to heaven. He was already pulling off his clothes in anticipation of whatever Magnus was going to feed him. But a sudden sharp need overtook him and he turned before he jerked his pants down. Looking over his bare shoulder he raised his voice. "Magnus."

He paused at the bedroom door and turned, "Yes."

"I know things have been crazy, and this is really fast, and a bunch of other crap that I don't really care about right now, but…." Alec trailed off and turned fully around to face Magnus, putting his hands on his hips.

Magnus raised his brow but smiled softly, "What is it?"

"I love you. And I just…." Alec watched Magnus' face light up as he walked back toward the bathroom interrupting Alec.

"You wretched, wretched man." Magnus said, a shininess in his eyes when he shoved Alec's shoulders. Alec frowned. "No, no, no. You couldn't have told me after your shower." Magnus paused, then heaved his own sigh. "Ridiculous creature." Then despite the grime Alec knew was all over him, Magnus threw his arms around Alec's shoulders and squeezed him for all he was worth. Alec laughed, happy and corny, right in his ear. "I'm serious Alexander."

"I have no doubt you think I'm ridiculous. But. I had to say it. I've been trying so hard not to say it, but after everything, I just needed you to know." Alec doesn't really care about all the reasons he'd been holding back, he just lets it all go and basks in the feeling of having something to hold on to. The last couple of weeks had been nice, really nice. So nice in fact that Alec didn't want to lose it over something as stupid as his own insecurity.

Magnus wiped his eyes and pulled back leaving his hands on Alec's bare shoulders. "I love you too darling." Magnus said softly. Alec smiled and they both giggled a little.

"Shower?" Alec asks.

Magnus narrows his eyes. "You are banned from showertime activities. It's a rule."

Alec gaped. "Forever! I'm banned forever?!"

"Yes you absolute cretin. Forever. Good boyfriends don't throw their significant others into cold showers." Magnus crossed his arms over his chest, rustling the pretty robe he had on.

"Seriously?" Magnus nodded his head very firmly, seriously, and Alec pulled back a little from him. Alec wasn't about to let that stand.

"How do good boyfriends fix their terrible awful mistakes so that their wonderful boyfriend will get in the shower with them?" Alec smiled using what Izzy referred to as his puppy eyes.

Magnus turned his back, then glanced over his shoulder with his brow raised, "My darling, prepare to grovel." With every ounce of wickedness in his body, Magnus set Alec on fire. Five words. That was all it took, and Alec could barely breathe. It dawned on him, if he played his cards right, he could have this for the rest of his life.

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Epilogue:

"You guys have been together for over six months. Cut it out, the puppy love stage is well and truly passed." Isabelle said as she moved champagne glasses around on the table. Clary and Jace had said I do about 2 hours ago, so the reception was well under way. The wedding had been magical, thank god the best man speech was over, the dancing was alright, and now Alec really wanted to do what he'd come here to do tonight.

"Do hush Izzy, Alec and I haven't had a chance to see each other for hours. Best man duties kept him far too busy for my tastes." Magnus said as he fixed Alec's suit. He wasn't wrong. Alec hadn't seen Magnus alone in over 3 hours, they were surrounded on all sides by people. It was difficult, and to think he was preparing to….Alec shook his head.

"Gross." Izzy said as she slipped a cucumber sandwich in her mouth.

"You love it." Magnus said as he wrapped his arms around Alec's middle. Alec, finally fed up with it all, tugged Magnus out of the reception hall and down the back steps of the castle Jace and Clary had gotten married in. Jace's grandmother was loaded, and they used every one of her pennies wisely.

The wedding coordinator had assured him everything would be prepared, so Alec confidently led Magnus through the maze-like garden.

"Alexander, where are you taking me?" Magnus asked curiously.

"It's a surprise." Alec noted how the moonlight highlighted the silver liner on Magnus' eyes. He wore a beautiful black jacket with a solid black waistcoat and tight black pants. He'd gone for the all black look, but played with the textures. Silk here, velvet there, the rough texture of his tie, it was incredible. The only color he wore was on his face and in his hair, silver to match Clary's colors. Alec had felt his breath leave him when he'd first caught a glimpse of Magnus on the steps of the castle.

"Well darling, I do hope you know where we are, because there is absolutely no way I could get us back to the party." Magnus gripped his hand a little tighter.

"I know exactly where we are." Alec pulled Magnus up beside him and pointed to a wooden door in a hedge. He watched Magnus' eyes go wide.

"Are you seriously taking me to some sort of secret garden?"

Alec smiled, "Yup. The owners of the venue said it was off limits for the party, but I asked if I could show you. I knew you'd love it." Secret rooms and doors were one of Magnus' weaknesses. He loved them.

Eagerly he pushed open the door and Alec followed him through. The little cordoned off garden was lit up by several lamps hanging around the area, and fairy lights were sprinkled through the hedges. A fountain sat at the center, water flowing and making the night feel magical. It was small, a private garden not meant to fit more than ten people, but it was perfect. Alec let Magnus walk a little ways ahead and then took a deep fortifying breath.

Magnus stopped and Alec watched him tense up as he turned around to face Alec. "Alexander?" There was a little uncertainty in his tone.

Alec dropped to his knee, and watched Magnus raise a hand to his mouth. The moon illuminating the water in the fountain, the lanterns casting a warm glow on Magnus' beautiful face, and Alec had never felt so steady. He dipped a hand into his pocket and looked forward to the rest of his life.


End file.
